by David P. Greisman
Negotiations for a fight between newly crowned World Boxing Organization junior middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade and British contender Brian Rose have begun, according to a tweet from Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, which promotes Rose.
The parties have 30 days to make a deal or else the bout will go to a purse bid, Hearn tweeted.
Should it go to purse bid, the minimum amount for any bid would be $200,000, according to a letter sent out Nov. 12 by the WBO and posted on the sanctioning body’s website.
The WBO belt at 154 pounds had been vacated after then-titleholder Zaurbek Baysangurov got injured prior to a bout with Andrade. This past weekend, Andrade beat Vanes Martirosyan by split decision to pick up the belt.
The most recent WBO ratings from Oct. 17 had Martirosyan at No. 1, Andrade No. 2, Baysangurov at No. 3 and Rose at No. 4.
Andrade, 25, is now 20-0 with 13 knockouts. Rose, 28, is 25-1-1 with 7 KOs and is coming off a debatable split decision win over Javier Francisco Maciel on Oct. 26.
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