Comments Thread For: Demetrius Andrade – The Next Step Begins Now

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By Thomas Gerbasi - Though Andre Ward currently resides with the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Nonito Donaire, Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny Pacquiao, and Sergio Martinez on the pound-for-pound list, it wasn’t that long ago that he was being ridiculed and criticized for the level of competition he was facing in the few years following his appearance in the 2004 Olympics.

At times, you would have thought Ward had committed murder the way he was once discussed in boxing circles. But as 2009 dawned, Ward, now four full years into his pro career, began making his move, with each successive fight pitting him against tougher and tougher opposition. By the time he made it to the Super Six super middleweight tournament in 2009, he was ready for the elite, and his performance in that tourney and beyond established him as one of boxing’s best.

Four years of an apprenticeship, with the fifth year beginning the time when you sink or swim among the sharks.

Demetrius Andrade knows all about that, about Ward, and about dealing with the criticism that often comes with being an ultra-talented former Olympian who many believe should have been fighting killers a lot sooner than now. [Click Here To Read More]

PAC-BOY

hes coming along fine. Kod all his opponents 2012 and still got lots more room for improvement. He will be a force to recon with as he grows in a couple of years.

SlimTim

Plenty of great fighters fought the best right away. Rafael Marquez's first pro fight was against a world champion

nycsmooth

w/a;; his talent& amateur xperience he's been babied far 2 long...time to let loose the reins...

puncyrock

Andrade has been brought along just fine and his matchmaker Katz should be in the Hall of Fame, he's been making great fights for a long time and Andrade is lucky have him.

ddangerous

Andrade has some great physical attributes. Ready to see him step it up a bit.

davidw9785

Teddy did rag on him quite a bit for not being a 'fighter' in his eyes. Maybe that biased me, but I don't think he has the ferocious competitive spirit that Ward has. When Ward fights he wants to win and he's gonna figure out how to do that no matter what. Part of the skills that he uses to win no doubt come from training with Virgil, but part (and you can tell) are instinctive and come from the 'fighter' he has in him. He had that 'bad intentions' look in his eyes many times during his fight with Dawson, whereas Dawson looked out of his comfort zone.

It's been a while since I've seen Andrade fight, but I was left with the impression that he has the skills but not the heart, similar to Dirrell. Dirrell is another guy that has a bountiful skill set but when you look into his eyes during the fight he doesn't have the 'fighter' in him. To me Andrade is the same way.

SnakeVen0m

I like Demetrius but you don't want to push him along too slow. Don't want him to get used to fighting lower class fighters, cause when he steps up he's going to get a rude awakening. In this case Hernandez is a big leap in class. I think Demetrius wins but it's gonna be harder than he thinks. Hernandez could take a hit, he's not gonna go down easily like his previous opponents.

PittyPat

Lemme guess, the lovechild of Demetrius Hopkins and Librado Andrade?

PAC-BOY #1 Floyd Hater Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Miami Beach, Fl Posts: 43,050 Rep Power: 183 Points: 40,117,066.00 Bank: 19,595,829,562,752.46 Total Points: 19,595,869,679,818.47 Donate	hes coming along fine. Kod all his opponents 2012 and still got lots more room for improvement. He will be a force to recon with as he grows in a couple of years.

SlimTim Contender Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 256 Rep Power: 5 Points: 6,460.21 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 6,460.21 Donate	Plenty of great fighters fought the best right away. Rafael Marquez's first pro fight was against a world champion

nycsmooth Undisputed Champion Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 3,249 Rep Power: 10 Points: 31,685.60 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 31,685.60 Donate	w/a;; his talent& amateur xperience he's been babied far 2 long...time to let loose the reins...

puncyrock Amateur Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0 Points: 709.67 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 709.67 Donate	Andrade has been brought along just fine and his matchmaker Katz should be in the Hall of Fame, he's been making great fights for a long time and Andrade is lucky have him.

ddangerous Behind you. Join Date: May 2012 Location: The States Posts: 3,587 Rep Power: 15 Points: 699,466,739.02 Bank: 238,057,310,483.57 Total Points: 238,756,777,222.59 Donate	Andrade has some great physical attributes. Ready to see him step it up a bit.

SnakeVen0m The Voice of Reason Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Age: 28 Posts: 1,382 Rep Power: 8 Points: 1,000,033,650.57 Bank: 46,942,274,864.25 Total Points: 47,942,308,514.82 Donate	I like Demetrius but you don't want to push him along too slow. Don't want him to get used to fighting lower class fighters, cause when he steps up he's going to get a rude awakening. In this case Hernandez is a big leap in class. I think Demetrius wins but it's gonna be harder than he thinks. Hernandez could take a hit, he's not gonna go down easily like his previous opponents.

PittyPat Kin yer taste the blood? Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Not Australia Posts: 8,450 Rep Power: 24 Points: 8,662.40 Bank: 67,632,285.51 Total Points: 67,640,947.91 Donate	Lemme guess, the lovechild of Demetrius Hopkins and Librado Andrade?