Zach Parker’s hopes of fighting Demetrius Andrade appear to be over.
The WBO’s number one supermiddleweight contender fought the second-weight world champion on May 21 for the Interim title, but The match was adjourned when Andrade injured his shoulder during practice.
The news shattered Parker’s dreams of fighting outdoors at Pride Park, home of his beloved Derby County Football Club, disappointing the 17,000 fans who bought tickets.
Today, the WBO announced that it has ended the sanction approval granted to the Interim title, which it describes as ‘best served in the super-medium class’.
Yesterday, in a letter to Frankbury Promotion President Frank Warren, Parker’s promoter, the governing body announced that Andrade would be out of action for four months.
The document reveals that Andrade’s team, in compliance with WBO orders, filed medical documents on May 6 and 7 summarizing the boxer’s condition and advising that a 4-month period of recovery is needed. Frank Warren, however, recently revealed that his team had not received any medical papers confirming the injury.
Andrade, who still holds the WBO middleweight belt, is gaining weight to pursue a path he hopes will lead to a fight with super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. The four-month layoff will keep the ‘Boot’ going until September, when the Mexicans face Gennadiy Golovkin for the third time. That situation took a hit when Dmitry Bivol scrapped Alvarez’s hopes of becoming a two-weight light-heavyweight champion on May 7. with a unanimous victory.
The WBO verdict will be a huge disappointment for the undefeated Parker (22-0.16 KO). A win over Andrade will push the 27-year-old’s career to the next level.
If Parker’s team now looks for a suitable opponent from the current No 10 WBO they will see two and three contenders, David Benavidez and David Lemieux, up against each other next weekend. In 4th place was Dmitry Salita promoted to Aslambek Idigov (21-0.7 KO). Nicknamed ‘Hulk’, the 25-year-old Russian is the holder of the WBO Europe belt. A fight against Parker would see their belligerent styles collide and create a potentially entertaining clash.
