Canelo Alvarez.
Billy Joe Saunders.
Those were the three names Demetrius Andrade mentioned when he was asked to give his “hit list” during the most recent episode of Matchroom Boxing’s podcast, “The Lockdown Tapes.” Gennadiy Golovkin’s name was ominously missing from that list.
Andrade apparently no longer considers Golovkin the type of opponent the WBO middleweight champion can get excited about boxing. Golovkin owns the IBF middleweight title, but he is 38 years old and hasn’t exactly expressed any legitimate interest in facing Andrade.
The undefeated southpaw has called out Golovkin countless times over the past few years, but Andrade explained to host Chris Lloyd why his opinion on facing Golovkin has changed.
“I would say Triple-G, but you know, Triple-G, he did his thing, he had his time,” Andrade said. “Yeah, he’s a great name. Did I fight him at his prime? No. Can I beat him at his prime? Yeah. Will the people ever see it? No. Did Canelo fight him at his prime? [No.] Is Canelo gonna fight him again, maybe for the third time? But it’s just like, you know, I’m just saying Triple-G did his thing. He showed and gave boxing all he has. And is that something I’m looking forward to doing? I was at one point. But now it’s not really worth excitement if it was maybe like a year or two earlier.”
Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KOs) and Mexico’s Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) could fight a third time once the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end. Golovkin’s handlers have indicated, though, that Golovkin wants to make a mandatory defense of his IBF 160-pound crown against Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) before he faces Alvarez again.
Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs), of Providence, Rhode Island, might need to make a mandatory defense of his WBO middleweight title against England’s Liam Williams (22-2-1, 17 KOs) in his next fight.
England’s Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) was supposed to defend his WBO super middleweight title against Alvarez on May 2 in Las Vegas. Plans for that event, which hadn’t officially been announced, were canceled due to the coronavirus crisis.
If an Alvarez-Saunders fight isn’t put back together, Andrade-Saunders could be revisited. They were supposed to fight for Saunders’ WBO middleweight title in October 2018 in Boston, but Saunders tested positive for a banned substance, was stripped of his title and Andrade defeated Walter Kautondokwa by unanimous decision to win the vacant championship.
Andrade-Charlo also would be a middleweight title unification fight. But it hasn’t come close to happening because Houston’s Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs), the WBC champion, is represented by Al Haymon, whereas Andrade works with promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.