Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade is in negotiations for a fight against Matt Korobov for the vacant WBO middleweight title, but he's upset that no fighters within his natural weight class, junior middleweight, would be willing to face him. In recent comments made by Andrade and his father/trainer Paul Andrade, they lashed out at big names in the 154-lb. class-particularly Canelo Alvarez.
"It's a shame that two days after the WBO selected Demtetrius to fight Korobov for the middleweight title the top 154-pounders came out of the woodwork to start making fights," Paul Andrade said.
"I guess real men are in the middleweight division. It looks like Canelo is going to fight Joshua Clottey, Kirkland is fighting Rosado. Nobody at 154 lbs. would step up to challenge Demetrius for his WBO title belt."
Andrade, 26, is 21-0-0 wit 14 knockouts, but his southpaw style and difficult-to-solve defense make him a risky proposition for a big name to face. Andrade is in the unenviable spot of being a supremely gifted fighter without name recognition-in other words, great risk with little payoff beyond the hardcore fan.
Paul Andrade expressed great frustration with the situation not only with Alvarez, but with Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya as well for naming him as a candidate.
"No disrespect to Clottey, who was a great 140 and 147 pound fighter, but which fight would the people paying for tickets like to see? Alvarez vs. Andrade, or Alvarez vs. Clottey?" Andrade asked.
"I guess Canelo isn't interested in trying to regain a 154-lb. world title belt. I want to let everyone know we are still open to fighting Canelo if he is willing to step up to fight Andrade. He wants a soft fight to set up a mega fight with Miguel Cotto."
Paul Andrade then lobbed shots at De La Hoya, and promised to loudly call for a Canelo fight until it's granted.
"Oscar never should have said Demetrius was on the short list to fight Canelo because he didn't mean it. We're not letting them off the hook though. We haven't signed to move up to 160 yet, and we're open to fighting Canelo at any given time. And if Canelo-Clottey is made it's only going to be one more disappointing night for boxing fans."
Demtrius Andrade's last fight happened at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Andrade defeated Brian Rose by TKO in Round 7, and knocked him down three times during the course of the fight.
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