Is Canelo Alvarez Ducking a Fight with Demetrius Andrade?
Word on the street is that the reigning super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KOs) is contemplating fights with countryman and former junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia and two-time world 168-pound champion David Benavidez in 2024. A glaring name that’s not under consideration is two-division world champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs). Could the reason be because Alvarez is avoiding a fight with Andrade?
Both Alvarez and Andrade are multi-divisional world champions and have been two of the best fighters from 154-168 over the past decade. But that’s where their similarities end. Canelo has become a superstar in boxing, while Andrade toils in relative anonymity.
CHASING HIM FOR YEARS
Andrade has wanted a fight with the Mexican superstar, but Alvarez has repeatedly brushed off the notion of facing him. When Andrade was the WBO champion at 154, he called for a fight with Alvarez, his mandatory challenger. Canelo avoided the challenge.
In January 2020, Andrade signed with Matchroom with the intent of landing a fight with Alvarez, who had signed an exclusive deal with DAZN. Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn was on record saying the fight should happen. But those attempts were for naught as Alvarez dissed and dismissed Andrade in a post-fight news conference in May 2021 following Alvarez’s stoppage win against Billy Joe Saunders.
WHY IT’S NEVER OCCURRED
Some in the boxing community argue that Andrade hasn’t done enough to earn the fight. That argument falls flat when you consider that Boo Boo was open to defending the 154-pound title against him, and Canelo turned it down. Andrade is an undefeated, two-division world champion. His resume is better than Saunders and former IBF 168-pound champion Caleb Plant, two fighters that Alvarez decided to fight.
Others claim Andrade doesn’t have the style that would get folks excited about a match with Alvarez. But neither Saunders nor Plant had the most scintillating of fighting styles. Besides, Andrade has enough juice to give more of an exciting fight than what fans saw during Alvarez’s most recent win over Jermell Charlo, which was considered a big disappointment by many boxing enthusiasts.
The truth could be that Andrade has the style to give Alvarez fits in the ring. Boo Boo is an athletic, skilled, and quick lefty with a high boxing IQ. When Canelo faced fighters with similar traits in Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout, they gave him all kinds of difficulty. Andrade would give him similar kinds of pugilistic hell. Alvarez would never say this publicly, but at this stage of his career, he may not want to deal with that kind of fighter.
The undisputed champion has had a standout career and is a future Hall of Famer. But it’s also apparent that there is one fighter he doesn’t want to get in the ring with. That fighter is Andrade, who appears to be Alvarez’s boogeyman.
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