Demetrius Andrade on Plant-Dirrell Knockout: “What did the plant do to it, what would I do to plant it”
By: Sean Crose
“What Plant did to him, I will do to Plant.” So, former longtime middleweight player Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andre spoke after Caleb Plant single-handedly destroyed Anthony Dirrell last Saturday night at Brooklyn’s Barclay Center. Tired of hoping for big fights to happen in middleweight, the undefeated Rhode Islander is now moving to Plant’s home super-middle division to make his mark. “I look forward to getting in there with the 168rs,” he said, “all day”.
Truth be told, it’s hard to pursue Andrade’s career with little frustration. Incredibly talented, the 31-0 boxer has never faced one of the sport’s bigger names. While some might blame this fact on Andrade himself, there is little doubt that the top middleweight contenders in recent years have shown little interest in competing with the man. 34 years old in the ring. With that being said, Andrade simply doesn’t fight that much. Like many famous boxers of his time, Andrade could only fight once or twice a year at most. Whatever it is, the man still wants a piece of the action among the sport’s superiors.
“I don’t care,” he said when asked which of the bigger names out there he’d like to face. “I’ll beat them all… 168, we’re moving forward.” Indeed, Andrade could do well against Plant, or David Benavidez or Jermall Charlo, three of the bigger names currently in his overall weight field. Whether any of those wars were actually fought, however, is another story. It’s hard to say why certain top-flight matches never happen, but it’s easy to see why Andrade can be a tough opponent for anyone. The man was, to put it simply, a ring technician, a skilled boxer, who impressed more than the enjoyment of fighting.
Such fighters, lest they go by the name Mayweather, tend to be easily dodged. The final standout movie takedowns are what the public craves, not the fanfare of the finer points of sweet science. This inescapable fact, coupled with the sparse amount of action in the ring, did not make Andrade too popular a boxer to avoid. However, it seems Andrade is determined, or at least hopeful, that his prospects against a top opponent will now improve. “Definitely Charlo,” he said when his brother Charlo’s name was mentioned. “We’re here for a reason.” Again, Charlo didn’t fight too often these days.
