Demetrius Andrade couldn’t help but laugh at the contradictory nature of Jermall Charlo’s latest take on a long-discussed middleweight unification bout.
Houston’s Charlo (30-0, 22KOs) registered the second defense of his upgraded World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight strap following a 7th round stoppage of Dennis Hogan this past Saturday in Brooklyn, New York. The bout was the latest for Charlo under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner, which limits his A-side opportunities to Showtime—which has aired his last two bouts and the bulk of his title fights at junior middleweight and middleweight—and Fox Sports.
Andrade currently fights on over-the-top (OTT) media service DAZN, as per his promotional alignment with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA outfit under which he has spent his last three fights, all spanning the course of his World Boxing Organization (WBO). Charlo made light of his current affiliation, claiming the unbeaten southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island was “hiding behind a network right now” during a post-fight press conference held overnight following his latest win.
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The remarks didn’t offend Andrade, but rather remind him of comments made just a few weeks ago when Charlo went on record in being receptive to a no-strings-attached deal with the sports streaming platform for the right opportunity.
“Funny, Charlo said just weeks ago that he’s willing to do a one-fight deal with DAZN because he’s his own promoter and now again today he says “He’s his own boss with Lions Only Promotions,” Andrade (28-0, 17KOs) pointed out to BoxingScene.com. “But now he needs me to go over there and fight him when I’m under a contract and he knows it’s not up to me. That’s bulls*it!
“If Charlo’s really his own boss and he really wants this then he just needs to make one phone call and it’s done. Eddie already publicly said weeks ago he would give Charlo a one-fight deal. What’s the problem then?”
For now, it appears that Charlo is on a collision course with England’s Chris Eubank Jr., who picked up an interim version of the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title on Saturday’s undercard. Such a fight, however, would require Eubank Jr. to vacate his recently acquired title, as opposing sanctioning bodies disallow unification bouts versus secondary and interim titlists.
To that, comes a much more sensible solution.
“I’m available, let’s unify those belts in May and give the fans what they want to see finally,” insists Andrade. “Two undefeated world champions in their prime, not like these pretenders avoiding us.
“Let’s put your belt against mine and let’s make it happen, because it just so happens I’ll be available too in May. If you’re man enough to back up your talk! Make that call and it’s done.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
