By Cliff Rold
In his first professional loss, to Mikkel Kessler in 2007, now 31-year old Mexican Super Middleweight Librado Andrade (29-3, 22 KO) of La Habra, California, referred to himself as a “collector of time” and, despite defeat, called the whole of his experience in and around the Kessler fight as “a wonderful time to collect.”
Friday night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, Andrade may have collected the last moments of time in the ring tenure of 39-year old Quebecer and former WBC Super Middleweight titlist Eric Lucas (39-8-3, 15 KO), a nasty cut over the left eye of Lucas forcing an end after eight fiery rounds, a wonderful time to collect in their own right.
Both men came in just above the division limit of 168 lbs., Andrade at 169 ¼, Lucas at 169.
Lucas began with the jab, an expected posture, with Andrade returning the weapon, an unexpected technical start. Sliding mostly to his left, Lucas alternated his left jab from head to body. By the final minute, the jitters of early going subsiding, each man took turns showing off their better offensive pieces, Lucas shooting short lead lefts and Andrade briefly working the former titlist over near the ropes.
Andrade again went to work as Lucas was near the ropes early in the second, Lucas not staying there long. A missing right uppercut was followed with a jarring straight right land for Lucas at mid-ring as the round reached the half mark. In the final minute, the crowd exploded for a testy exchange along the strands, Andrade working hard, Lucas turning him and firing in response, only to be turned again by the strength and short bombs of Andrade.
Pressuring, Andrade ensured more exchanges in round three, both men firing hard in the first minute. Lucas spent some time as the aggressor in a slowed middle portion of the round and then it was Andrade again, pushing to close Lucas into the ropes. A big right hand was followed by a left uppercut and another right before Lucas responded with rights. Andrade ended the round windmilling to the ribs of Lucas.
Lucas’s spirit was present throughout the fourth even as the physical Andrade appeared to be outworking him. Lucas’s right hand was connecting between barrages, Andrade’s landing in them. The action, already heated, turned the temperature up even more in a tow-to-toe fifth. The fighters stayed largely at close quarters, taking turns absorbing and dishing out banging rights and lefts. As the bell sounded to end the frame, both of Lucas’s eyes dripped crimson.
A big left uppercut early in the sixth forced Lucas to hold briefly, wisely boxing for a while afterwards, perhaps showing wise cognizance of 39-year old legs. A while was all of a minute before an Andrade bomb near the ropes brought a sizzling left hook from Lucas off the ropes, the Canadian favorite unleashing with both fists and provoking yet another explosion from Andrade. Lucas was slipping and blocking a closing attempt from Andrade near the ropes.
The competitive nature of the affair slowly turned one-sided in the seventh and eighth rounds, Andrade’s youth and activity meaning mounting punishment as more and more of his blows landed clean. Late in the eighth, the cut over the left eye of Lucas blew open at the end of an Andrade right hand. Referee Michael Griffin halted the action for the ringside doctor to take a look and Lucas was allowed to finish the round.
Finishing the fight was too much to hope for. Safely back in his corner, the cut clearly spread across the bottom of the eyebrow, Lucas’s corner and the doctor waved the end to the night and, probably, his career. The defeated man sounded like he was done. “I don’t want to fight as a loser. If I can’t fight at the world level, I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to be used as a journeyman for young fighters.”
Lucas fell short in his first two major title shots, suffering a decision loss to Fabrice Tiozzo and a stoppage at the hands of Roy Jones Jr., both in the first half of 1996. He would make good in 2001, stopping Glen Catley and making three defenses before suffering a controversial decision loss in Germany to Markus Beyer in 2003.
Andrade made clear the cut was a target, but seemed unhappy having to heap punishment on at the end. “I kind of wanted (the referee) to stop it. I was throwing the shots and it was hurting me a little bit. We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to go there. (Lucas) has had a great career. He’s a very professional man and I admire that. Outside of the ring we got to be somebody. I don’t mean somebody that has to have and to own things, but somebody respectable, you know. He is that person and I really admire his life outside of the ring. He is very successful financially and he don’t need to do this. I admire him for that and he had a very good career. It’s given him what he’s got and that’s what I want to be.”
It would be hard to argue after any fight he’s ever been in, win or lose, that the classy Andrade would ever need to want to be as good a man as another. They don’t make enough like Andrade in the first place.
In the televised opener, 29-year old Middleweight Marcus Upshaw (13-4-1, 6 KO) of Jacksonville, Florida, scored an official knockdown in round four when his opponent turned his back, ultimately outworking his man and ending the 13-fight win streak of 38-year old Quebecer Renan St. Juste (21-2-1, 14 KO) with a split decision over ten. Official scores came in at 95-94 for St. Juste, overruled at 95-94 and 96-93 for Upshaw. Both men weighed in 159 ¾. The referee was Jean-Guy Brousseau.
The broadcast was carried in the U.S. on basic cable outlet ESPN2 as part of its “Friday Night Fights” series, promoted by Interbox.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
