By Keith Idec, photo by Stephanie Trapp
Demetrius Andrade was offended by Jermall Charlo’s claim that there’s no one left for him to fight at 154 pounds.
Charlo could move up to middleweight for his next bout, but Andrade challenged Charlo to remain at junior middleweight to face him. Andrade, a former WBO 154-pound champion, thinks that Jermall Charlo, the IBF junior middleweight champ, and his twin brother, WBC super welterweight champ Jermell Charlo, are avoiding him.
The 2008 American Olympian made that abundantly clear in the aftermath of Jermall Charlo’s impressive fifth-round knockout of Philadelphia’s Julian Williams (22-1-1, 14 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles.
“They’re gonna do whatever it takes to avoid Demetrius Andrade,” Andrade told BoxingScene.com. “How you say there’s not any other fighters, when I’m the best at 154 pounds?”
The Charlo brothers have long said they won’t fight each other. Jermall Charlo also is trained by the same man, Ronnie Shields, as WBA world super welterweight champion Erislandy Lara (23-2-2, 13 KOs).
Jermall Charlo wants nothing more than to fight Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs), but believes a lucrative unification fight against Alvarez, the WBO 154-pound champion, would be very tough to make because his adviser, Al Haymon, was sued by Alvarez’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, for $300 million.
Andrade, of Providence, Rhode Island, no longer owns a 154-pound championship, but the skilled, powerful southpaw is undefeated (23-0, 16 KOs).
“It’s up to the fans,” Andrade said, “and the networks to say [to Charlo], ‘Yo, Demetrius Andrade. Demetrius Andrade! Demetrius Andrade! Demetrius Andrade!’ ”
The 28-year-old Andrade didn’t see anything from Houston’s Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) during his three-knockdown victory over Williams that altered his opinion of how a bout between them would unfold.
“Nothing changed with him,” Andrade said. “Every time you see me, my performances are looking better and better and better. And my power and my strength, and everything that I do is fan-friendly, and it’s entertaining. I fought Willie Nelson – 6-3. [Charlo] is only 6-1. I have no problem with that size.”
Andrade did have a problem with how Charlo behaved toward Williams in the immediate aftermath of his win. He called it “disrespectful” for Charlo to initially refuse Williams’ offer to shake his hand in Charlo’s corner.
“All the rest of that sh*t afterwards, that’s just cockiness,” Andrade said. “You need to be humbled. And I’m gonna be the one to humble them boys. I guarantee you. Both Charlo boys will be humbled, and it will be by me. Don’t get it confused, either. I’m not J-Rock. I’m not Gabriel Rosado. I’m not none of those guys, man. I’m not scared to call yous guys out. I’m not scared to speak about yous. Yous are, for some reason. And yous don’t wanna make the fight. Why?”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
