Saturday night, while covering the HBO Boxing After Dark card at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, Tha Boxing Voice got a chance to speak to undefeated middleweight contender Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade. He answered questions about what might be next for his career, and whom he thinks is beatable in his weight class, giving some very bold statements about current superstar of his division Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
Coming off of a second round TKO win over Alexis Hloros ((16-4-2), Andrade accredits the win to sticking to his game plan and letting it all come together. This brought up discussion of the quality of his opponents; his recent ventures into the ring have left fans wondering when he is going to fight someone of real caliber, considering the immense depth in the middleweight division. “We are taking it one step at a time; the top ten-twenty guys are not taking the fight with me,” explains Andrade who thinks he could be the one to beat Floyd “Money” Mayweather. He says that if Floyd is not up for the challenge than he should, “Stay undefeated and get out of the game.”
As far as seemingly realistic opponents for “Boo Boo”, he mentioned names such as James Kirkland, Carlos Molina, and Sergei Dzinziruk. He spoke of wanting to take on Dzinziruk in what would be Sergei’s last fight on his HBO contract, aiming for that to be his next fight as he has nothing scheduled himself. As far as the other opponents mentioned, Molina might be the toughest fight, stylistically speaking, for Andrade. While “Boo Boo” maintains that Molina’s sometimes-scrappy style won’t be an issue, some think it would be a test for both, and Andrade hasn’t seen many of those.
Considering the 154 lb division is so packed right now, with a few incredibly hot prospects we could not help but ask about “King” Gabriel Rosado, as a possible opponent. Any fan can see why a fight between these two might have been discussed. Andrade says that Rosado’s name has never come up, and with Rosado as the mandatory for the IBF belt in a fight that has to happen within six months, we can imagine that the fight is one we will not see on December 22, the date of a big edition to the Main Events “Fight Night” series on NBC Sports Network; that is already billing Tomasz Adamek as the main event at the Sands Casino and Resort in Bethlehem, PA.
While Rosado is already a mandatory challenger for a belt, Andrade says his plan is to keep on winning to become one and that will be how he gets his shot at the big boys. He will keep winning under the tutelage of his coach Andre Rozier, who would often fill in for Andrade’s father when absent from the gym for one reason or another wrapping hands, or giving advice. He has been working with Andrade since childhood and as the fighter says “He keeps me comfortable.”
Going back to the big boys of his division, no one these days can have a conversation about the 154lb division without the name “Canelo” coming up. The Mexican superstar, coming off of a win over natural 140-147 lb contender Josesito Lopez. While Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has an impressive record of 41-0-1, Andrade maintains the “who has he fought” argument that always seems to come up with talk of “Canelo”. While the same argument can be had for Andrade’s resume, “Boo Boo” says that “Canelo” is “Nothing Special”. Arguing that besides and Over-The-Hill Shane Mosley, he isn’t sold on the superstar until he fights someone.
Well, there’s something they have in common.
