Canelo-Anrade Needs More Than Quick Exchange To Get Done - BoxingScene.com

By Jake Donovan

Demetrius Andrade’s name has finally been remembered by a top middleweight.

Whether it’s to hammer out a deal or only to be used as bait will be revealed in due time.

The unbeaten middleweight titlist appears to be the next candidate in line to land a dream fight with World middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, although there still remains a long road ahead.

Representatives from his team as well as that of Golden Boy Promotions—Alvarez’s promoter—declined comment to BoxingScene.com, other than to acknowledge that contact has been made between camps.

Andrade (28-0, 17KOs) wasn’t shy about calling out Alvarez and the division’s second-most prominent figure, former titlist Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin following his latest win this past June. The undefeated southpaw pitched a 12-round shutout over Poland’s Maciej Sulecki live on DAZN in front of a raucous crowd in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.

“I want to fight Canelo. I want to fight GGG,” Andrade defiantly stated in the aftermath. “What everyone (in the media) needs to do is go out there and let it be known. Demetrius Andrade wants Canelo. Demetrius Andrade wants GGG.

“I’m not thinking about any other fights.”

He finally gets his wish for the moment, although would still love to hear more from the other side in terms of actually entering negotiations.

Alvarez (52-1-2, 35KOs) is prepared to turn to the reigning titlist after his latest attempt at securing an opponent for a fall DAZN date once again went south. The sport’s leading attraction was riding high following a 12-round win over Daniel Jacobs in their three-belt middleweight title unification bout this past May in Las Vegas, Nev.

Barely three months later, Alvarez is now down to one official belt although he still reigns as the true lineal champion. Efforts to close a deal for a mandatory title defense versus Sergey Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10KOs) hit a wall, with the two sides failing to reach terms by the final deadline of close of business Thursday, as previously reported by BoxingScene.com.

It was also the third time this summer he saw plans for his next bout hit a wall. Alvarez originally planned to return on September 14 in Las Vegas, Nev., as he routinely fights on the weekends celebrating Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16). He was forced to move off of the date in July after failing to secure an opponent suitable to the needs of DAZN, with whom he signed a record-breaking deal last fall.

From there came plans to fight on Oct. 26, rotating back and forth in talks with Derevyanchenko and light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev. The latter was the more aggressively pursued option—and for weeks also one of just two opponents whom DAZN would approve for his next fight. The only other fighter on the platform’s list is Golovkin, whom Alvarez fought twice and despises enough to not yet entertain a third fight.

Talks with Kovalev were encouraging but ultimately unproductive as the Russian was already committed to a mandatory title defense versus England’s Anthony Yarde. With each day came less of a chance of putting together a suitable step-aside package to justify walking away from such a fight, which led back to negotiating with Derevyanchenko, whose team played hardball all the way through the final imposed deadline.

The impasse led to Alvarez relinquishing his International Boxing Federation (IBF) title, just weeks after seeing his World Boxing Council (WBC) title handed over to Jermall Charlo. The 29-year old was “upgraded” to the sanctioning body’s Franchise champion, which gives him the freedom to pursue any opponent he pleases without fear of being stripped.

No such luxury came of his three-month stay as the IBF’s reigning champ, as he just remains with the World Boxing Association (WBA) title in tow. It’s a far cry from his mantra at the start of the year, claiming a desire to collect all of the divisional belts.

As he hasn’t lost any of them in the ring, there remains an intriguing storyline to pursue Andrade’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) strap, the one title for which he has yet to contend through nearly four years in and out of the middleweight division.

Andrade—a 2008 U.S. Olympian and three-time titlist in two weight divisions—won the vacant title last October, scoring a 12-round decision over previously unbeaten Walter Kautondokwa in Boston, Mass.

The bout was a contingency plan for Andrade’s scheduled clash England’s Billy Joe Saunders, then an unbeaten titlist who tested positive for banned substance through Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA). He was subsequently stripped of the title due to failure to secure a license with the Massachusetts commission, despite being cleared by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC).

Two title defenses have since followed for Andrade, scoring a 12th round stoppage of Artur Akavov in January before finally being granted an overdue homecoming appearance for his latest bout.

With any luck, his next fight will be on the level of what’s he’s dreamed since turning pro more than 10 years ago.

In order to get there, however, it will require more than a quick exchange to gauge interest which—to date—is all that has taken place between the two.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.boxingscene.com/canelo-anrade-needs-more-quick-exchange-get-done--141423

2019-08-03 08:54:09Z
52780344057728