Demetrius Andrade and Eddie Hearn putting the pressure on Jermall Charlo
At this point, there is no question that WBC World Middleweight champion Jermall “Hit Man” Charlo (31-0, 22 KO’s) is looking exceedingly bad. The worst part about it is he has no one to blame but himself. It does not make it any better that would-be divisional rival WBO World Middleweight champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (30-0, 18 KO’s) just significantly turned the heat up on him. The Rhode Island native is fresh off his latest conquest of Liam Williams. For twelve straight rounds, minus a patch here and there, Andrade thoroughly outclassed Williams. In the aftermath of the win, Boo Boo was naturally questioned about what he wants to do next.
Being questioned about who he is going to fight next is a perplexing situation for Andrade. Unfortunately, he has had to become very comfortable with it. Many fans and some in the media love to say that he is not fighting anyone and needs to step-up the level of his competition. Boo Boo is often lampooned for fighting what many deem to be lesser opposition. It was the same story going into the Williams bout. At the same time, it must be remembered that it takes two to tango. To his credit, Andrade has loudly called from every mountain top available for the best in the division. Regrettably, none have heeded the call. Chief among them is Jermall Charlo.
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
Some will say that it’s not fair to finger point at the Hit Man, but is it really? Andrade and the Charlo’s have a long and storied past dating back to 2014. At that time, Boo Boo was scheduled to lock horns with Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo before abruptly dropping out due to unsatisfactory monetary compensation. There is no denying that it was disappointing and an ill-advised move. Even worse, the prizefight was never put back together and therefore never took place. At the same time though, that was nearly a decade ago! Since then the Charlo brothers have carried a deep-seeded grudge against Andrade.
When we come to modern times however, it is plain to see that Boo Boo is still willing and wants to fight either brother. Yet it is Jermall who currently resides in the same division as the WBO champion. In an effort to secure that much craved bout, Andrade’s promoter Eddie Hearn offered the Hit Man a multimillion dollar contract to slide through the ropes with his charge. If you let Charlo tell it however, that offer was never made. As the pressure to fight Boo Boo has continued to ratchet up, Charlo then vowed to blacklist Andrade. Yet perhaps the most vexing element of this year’s long melodrama is Charlo has an exceedingly weak resume at 160.
Since moving to middleweight in 2017, the Hit Man has fought six times with his best win coming against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Even in that situation, Derevyanchnko was coming in off a loss to Gennady Golovkin. Next up the Hit Man will face the radically irrelevant Juan Macias Montiel. Montiel has four losses, two draws and has never fought for a world title in his life. Therefore, it is impossibly difficult to fathom how Jermall Charlo can rationalize not fighting an undefeated, belt-holding, two-division champion to fight guys straight out of the witness protection program. We are not even going to get into how Charlo shamefully sidestepped a fight with another former two-time world champion in David Benavidez.
STEP UP OR STEP OFF!
So it makes perfect sense when Demetrius Andrade says its’ not on him to lure his fellow champions into the ring. Who can say it better that Boo Boo himself?
“I shouldn’t have to inspire somebody to get in the ring for a belt, unification and a whole lot of money on the table!”
At this point, the fans and media need to do their part to press for this bout. Perhaps if legacy, unifications and money will not do the trick, shame, ridicule and ostracism will!
By: Bakari Simpson
