“Of course!”
That was Demetrius Andrade’s response when he was asked during a post-fight interview with Sky Sports if he’d be willing to travel to England to fight Billy Joe Saunders next. Andrade just hopes Saunders agrees to fight him again and that their promoter, Eddie Hearn, can reschedule a bout that initially was supposed to take place in October 2018 for later this year.
“I mean, it’s the easiest one [to make],” Andrade told Sky Sports after his ninth-round stoppage of Luke Keeler on Thursday night in Miami. “It’s the realistic one, as far as DAZN, Matchroom, and you know, we both can make it happen sooner than later. And so I think he needs it and I need it, more than me having to go and try to make a deal and postpone and do business with [Jermall] Charlo and them, when Eddie said he made the offer, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the fight.”
Andrade, then Saunders’ mandatory challenger, was supposed to fight Saunders for the brash British southpaw’s WBO middleweight title 15 months ago at TD Garden in Boston. Once Saunders tested positive for oxilofrine, a substance banned by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission denied his request for a boxing license and he was subsequently stripped of his belt by the WBO.
Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs), of Providence, Rhode Island, instead defeated Namibia’s Walter Kautondokwa by unanimous decision in a 12-round fight for the then-vacant WBO 160-pound championship. Andrade dropped Kautondokwa (then 17-0, 16 KOs) four times on his way to an easy victory.
The 30-year-old Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) was suspended six months from the WBO’s rankings and later moved up to the super middleweight division. He won the then-unclaimed WBO super middleweight title by out-pointing Serbia’s Shefat Isufi (29-4-2, 21 KOs) on May 18 in Stevenage, England.
The 31-year-old Andrade is willing to move up from middleweight to super middleweight to face Saunders, though he’d prefer to have Saunders return to 160 pounds for their fight.
“I’m willing to go up to 168 and fight Billy Joe ‘Joke-Ass’ Saunders my next fight, and that’s what I’m looking to do,” Andrade told DAZN’s Chris Mannix immediately after defeating Keeler. “Since Eddie do got that big [checkbook] and big bank, well, offer Billy Joe Saunders that check, so I could whup his ass, too!”
Andrade made his third defense of the WBO middleweight title against Ireland’s Keeler (17-3-1, 5 KOs), who was a huge underdog entering their main event at Meridian at Island Gardens.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
