Even if you’re relatively new to the sport of boxing, you know exactly what a steppingstone is. It isn’t verbatim but essentially, upper-echelon fighters use those from a lower tier to take their careers to the next level.

Practically every fighter has done it. Whether it’s by design or not, it happens in virtually every weight class at numerous times during the calendar year. According to Leonard Ellerbe, he’s beginning to hear those whispers once again. And while he often agrees with those sentiments, he believes many have gotten it wrong.

On November 25th, at the Michelob Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, both Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade and David Benavidez will get it on. Although he’s an undefeated former two-division champ, Andrade is viewed as the odds-on underdog.

Before the two officially square up, fans are already looking ahead and drooling over a possible showdown between Benavidez and Canelo Alvarez.

Everyone, of course, is entitled to their opinion but from Ellerbe’s point of view, the former Olympian isn’t someone anybody should be sleeping on.

“That’s a tremendous fight,” Ellerbe told FightHype.com during a recent interview. “I think a lot of people are overlooking Boo Boo.”

For much of his career, Andrade (32-0, 19 KOs) has been stuck in boxing’s version of purgatory. It wasn’t quite hell or heaven but just somewhere in between. The Rhode Island native has done his best to land a big-time fight. Mega matchups against Gennadiy Golovkin, Jaime Munguia, and the previously mentioned Canelo Alvarez, despite all being associated with DAZN once upon a time, never were realistic. Now, having signed with Premier Boxing Champions, Ellerbe believes that the days of Andrade being left out in the cold are a thing of the past.

“Boo Boo can fight his behind off. He’s just been in a situation where he hadn’t gotten that much exposure and he hasn’t gotten those opportunities. Now with him being over here with the PBC, he’s gonna get those opportunities.”