Demetrius Andrade is one of boxing future superstars, a lanky and fast-handed fighter who won impressively on the undercard of Ruslan Provodnikov vs. Chris Algieri at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 14. Whether or not he ascended into the realm of super fights is still in question.
Andrade knocked out a tough but over matched opponent in Brian Rose, sending him to the mat three times in seven rounds before the referee was forced to stop the bout. Andrade is the WBO light middleweight champion, and in the post fight press conference said he's ready to face the cream of the crop--specifically mentioning Miguel Cotto, or the winner of Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara.
Cotto is fresh off a career-defining victory over Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez, however, and has nothing but the biggest fights in mind. While that matchup surely would boost Andrade to elite levels, it could be a dangerous fight for Cotto with very little financial benefit. It would be reminiscent of Cotto's decision to face Austin Trout in 2012.
At the time Cotto had been coming off a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Trout was a skilled, defensive-oriented southpaw with a small fan base. He proved a tough matchup for Cotto, made him look shopworn and almost killed the Puerto Rican's star power. The winner of Alvarez vs. Lara would be a great matchup for Andrade as well, but Alvarez is widely believed to be in line to face Cotto should he emerge as the victor.
Andrade is still just 26 years old though, and in his own words, "tall, black and handsome," so time is on his side. He can still strive toward his goal of unifying the 154-lb. weight class by taking on Carlos Molina, which he said was an option. If he's able to stop Molina the same way he did Rose, Andrade will be much tougher for the big names to ignore.
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