By: Sean Crose
“Demetrius Andrade has a rather unexpected fan: WBC and world heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. “I’ll tell you a man we should talk about, but he’s never mentioned,” brand quoted Fury as saying. “He’s the boggart in every department who needs to try something: Boo Boo Andrade.” As far as Fury knows, former WBO middleweight world champion and WBA junior middleweight Andrade is being shunned. “That man is a two-weight world champion,” Fury said, “and he’ll rip the ears of anyone who has the guts to get in the ring with him.” Andrade recently moved up to super-medium in hopes of finally winning a big fight. His last game was a unanimous decision victory over Demond Nicholson in early January.
“Give the man a chance to do something,” Fury added. “He needs his shot.” In fact, Andrade is easily overlooked by the big names. For starters, the Rhode Islander’s 32-0 record doesn’t include too many kills. He doesn’t seem to possess a lot of combat end power. Plus, unlike a boxer like Floyd Mayweather, he’s not qualified enough to attract fans. As a result, accusations of Andrade being boring make him unpopular – which makes it easy for other top names to steer clear of him. Or wait for him to come out. Andrade is now 34 years old.
“You’ve got Caleb Plant, you’ve got David Benavidez, you’ve got Charlo,” Fury said. “Put it all in. Give him a chance. He’s 33 or 34 years old, and he hasn’t fought anyone too heavy.” Fury then gives his opinion on Andrade for the world to see. “Really, he’s a very good fighter,” he continued. “It’s those guys who don’t want to fight him. He’s the most shunned person in boxing today, and they do it because they’re afraid of him.” While it’s impossible to accuse any professional boxer of cowardice, it’s easy to suspect that Andrade’s well-known potential enemies might have a definite interest in keeping him away.
The truth is, at this point in his career, Andrade could use someone like Fury to put pressure on fighters who might be trying to avoid teamfights with him. After all, no one wants to look like they’re crouching, even if that involves a potential competitor that isn’t considered particularly fan-friendly.
