On the 2011 season premiere of ?Friday Night Fights? on ESPN2, middleweight prospect Demetrius Andrade, 11-0 (8), takes on Albert Herrera, 7-1-1 (5), from the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. On paper, it seems like an appropriate step for this stage of his career. Andrade is considered one of the country?s best young prospects after representing the United States in the 2008 Olympics.
When asked about his progress, thus far, as a professional, ?Boo Boo? told Maxboxing, “I?m going to say two thumbs up. I?m 11-0 with eight knockouts within a two-year span of being a pro.” Some critics believe he has been matched softly; to that, Andrade responds, “I don?t pick the opponents. We just look at the records and we go with whoever has the best records and we go from there.”
Again, he?s just a fighter; he lets his brain trust do their job. Andrade?s job is to fight, not play matchmaker.
“Yeah, I don?t [choose the opponents] and when I do put my two cents in, I?ll just be like, ?Yo, find whoever got the best record and who looks good for TV and let?s make it happen.?”
Almost one year ago, he faced Bernardo Guereca, 15-9-1 at the time, who came into their bout having lost four of his last five fights. Andrade stopped him in one. Geoffrey Spruiell faced Andrade in April having lost three of his previous four bouts. He was decisioned over six rounds. Then in his last bout against Dave Saunders in September (who was coming in on a seven-bout losing skid), Andrade scored a second-round knockout.
One observer who has been critical of the path Andrade has been put on is Teddy Atlas, who will be calling his fight on Friday night.
“I know you can make excuses and I know you can look at both sides of it and you can make different arguments. His people, his trainer- who happens to be his father, who happened to leave and now he?s back with him- you can go and take the approach and the argument that he?s only 23 years old and he still has to get his man-strength. He still has to mature; he still has to physically grow into his body and yada-yada-yada,” he says.”Or you could say that he?s had 250 amateur fights; he?s been fighting since he?s been old enough to walk, practically and with that kind of experience, that should be enough emotional maturity, mental maturity to be able to step up at this point and try for better opponents.”
Atlas has always been of the belief that amateurs of Andrade?s pedigree come into the pro game with the equivalent of a 10-0 record and can be matched a bit differently than your average novice.
He points out, “This is a kid who fought for the United States Olympic team. He?s fought the best amateurs over the last seven years in the country, in the world. He?s been able to compete on that kind of stage with that kind of competition. Again, you can make it anything you want; it doesn?t mean it?s true. But you can make it anything you want and you can believe anything you want to believe. If that?s what you want to say and that?s the approach you want to take, then you?re going to take that approach. You?re going to hold onto that but, to me, when you were fighting the best amateurs in the world, you were fighting physically mature guys. I know it was only four rounds but still, you were fighting the most physically mature amateurs in the world from all over.
“If it wasn?t a problem then, why should you start saying that now?? asked Atlas. ?To me, there?s a danger that you?re holding back from his natural progression, hold him back from developing into the kind of fighter that he has the pedigree to develop into and you almost start to send a signal out, to him, that you don?t have that kind of great confidence in him.”
Andrade is co-promoted by Joe DeGuardia and Artie Pellulo, who sank a substantial six-figure signing bonus into Andrade to procure his services. DeGuardia says that with the reputation that Andrade has, it?s not easy to get boxers to step into the ring with him. “It?s always certainly difficult to find guy who will fight him. There?s a long line of guys who turned him down. But with that being said, we?re also progressing on a path for him, developing him and we expect good things from him in the future.”
The reality is, with less shows than there were in the past, there is also a shallower pool of fighters to draw from.
“Yes,” agreed the promoter, “it?s very difficult. Look, the boxing business in general is very difficult right now and certainly one of the things of the business is to develop fighters and that process is not easy. There are less dates, less television; the ability to keep a guy going is difficult. We?ve been fortunate; network television loves Demetrius. People recognize him as being a star. So, in certain respects with Demetrius, it might be a little bit easier to develop him because he is recognized as having star potential.”
There is a huge difference between truly developing and cultivating a fighter and just building up a record. The latest cautionary tale is Danny Jacobs, who was fast-tracked to a title shot this past summer and destined for HBO dates with his association with Al Haymon. Well, Dmitry Pirog brought everyone back to reality with a single right cross.
Jacobs was an amateur colleague of Andrade, who said of that fateful night, “I was pretty surprised. I was kinda surprised; that was interesting.” When he was asked to further elaborate on what he saw in that fight, Andrade answered, “This guy must have a lot of power. Danny must not have a good chin. One or the other.”
Before that fateful punch, Jacobs just looked like a boxer who had never been in a real fight. One whose record was built on a collection of blown-up welterweights and no-hopers who were never going to prepare him for a solid professional like Pirog. When asked if he thought Jacobs was truly ready for such a task, Andrade said bluntly, “Nah, I think Danny, in my honest opinion, he got moved a little too fast but that?s not for me to tell anybody how to move their guy. You can?t tell a fighter how to do whatever. He does whatever he wants to do but I think he moved a little too fast.”
When asked about the potential parallels of the two, Atlas stated emphatically, “That?s what I?m talking about. Guys can develop to a certain extent, physically, technically, and they can play with smoke-and-mirrors just a little bit, where you put him in with the right opponents. I mean, we?ve seen it on ESPN ?Friday Night Fights? all the time. I see a guy 20-0 with 20 knockouts; I say, ?Is it real or is it a mirage? Is it real power or is it the opponents that he?s been fighting that are so poor?? It?s the same thing with a prospect, whether it?s Jacobs or anybody else. Their ability, their talent, their potential, that?s real. I think that?s real. I don?t think you play smoke-and-mirrors with that. Where you play mirrors is whether or not they develop underneath the surface.”
The 2011 game plan is pretty simple for Team Andrade.
“We?re looking to keep him busy; I?m hopeful that he?ll have at least half-a-dozen fights this year and if he progresses the way I expect and hope, then I?m thinking sometime early next year, he might be ready for a title challenge,” explained DeGuardia, who believes that how Andrade has been guided is on par with almost every other blue-chip prospect of the past. Andrade says, “The way we working is good. I don?t pay attention to what people got to say. Either way, eventually, I?m going to fight the best and that?s what it is. I don?t need to fight them now. People expect me to fight the Paul Williamses and Sergio Martinezs now. I?m only 11-0 with eight knockouts and doing eight-round fights. Can I work my way up before you guys start wanting me to fight the guys that?s already up there? Like, geez.”
But that?s not really what the critics want. What they question is this- is Andrade facing the type of opposition that will best prepare him for the world-class level?
“No matter how talented these guys are, you don?t really know how to tell that,” said Atlas, who is actually high on Andrade?s natural talent. “I?ve said it from the beginning; I said he was the best looking prospect from the Olympic team- and let?s put that into perspective; let?s be fair about that. Our last Olympic team in 2008 was the worst performing Olympic team we?ve ever had in the history of the Olympics. But having said that, it was still the best we had in our country. And this is a kid who, before the Olympics, had won the World Games.
“I felt that, coming out of the Olympics, that he was the best looking prospect.”
It?s clear; Andrade is built like the prototypical 21st century middleweight.
“But what kind of character does he have?” asked Atlas, who wants to see if he has the intangibles needed to thrive in this sport at the highest levels. “What kind of belief system does he have? What kind of mental game does he have? How mentally tough is he? And that?s something I?ve said from the beginning when I threw all those great laurels at him.”
So is Herrera the best guy he will have faced as a pro?
“I can?t tell you but I have fought two undefeated fighters already,” Andrade points out. “I don?t know what this guy brings to the table. I?m just in it to win it.”
Atlas is skeptical, given that Herrera was just knocked out in his last outing in October by Chris Chatman in four rounds. Ironically, Chatman reportedly gave Andrade all he could handle in October of 2009, losing a six-round verdict. Since then, the athletic southpaw has reeled off five consecutive wins and now sports a record of 9-1. Perhaps he should?ve been the guy to face Andrade at this stage in front of a national audience.
Regardless, 2011 is a pivotal one for Andrade, who says, “This is my year; when people start realizing I am that good and whoever you put in front of me, I?m going to make it look easy.”
So far, some believe it?s been too much.
REMATCH
In a move that most are applauding, the WBC has ordered a rematch between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins who engaged in a controversial draw on December 18th in Quebec City. It was a contest that most thought should have gone to Hopkins.
The two sides, Golden Boy Promotions and GYM, have 30 days to come to an agreement from Thursday and if none is reached, a purse bid will be held on February 4th.
OK, but now this is where things get murky. Because HBO, if they decide to pony up the money for a rematch between Chad Dawson and Pascal (who fought in August), the light heavyweight champion will have some choices to make. If Pascal goes through with that fight, he will be stripped by the WBC, and Hopkins will fight for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title. Now, if Hopkins-Pascal happens again, who knows? I?m guessing litigation.
Let?s be honest; outside of those with a vested interest in Dawson, the overwhelming majority of boxing fans would much rather see the Hopkins rematch (which would most likely take place on Showtime) but again, when was the last time that HBO did anything to serve the game of boxing and their subscribers (who would rather see that money used for fights not involving the listless Dawson)?
JUNIOR TIME
It?s been officially announced that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (who we assume is now fit and healthy as a horse) will make his return to the ring on January 29th in Culiacan, Mexico against Billy Lyell on a show that will be televised by Fox Sports Net on ?Top Rank Live.? Should he get through that, he could be facing Sebastian Zbik after that for the WBC interim middleweight title in the spring.
Word is that trainer Freddie Roach could be going to Mexico to train Junior, leading up to the 29th. I think my colleague Gabe Montoya said it best in a tweet when he stated that it?s a case of bringing the water to the horse. What happened to this kid soaking up the professional setting and atmosphere that the Wild Card Boxing Club provided? Roach told me that he will know by Thursday night if he will be heading south or not for the next couple of weeks. No word on when Roach will relocate his whole gym to placate Chavez Jr.
Geez, they really bend over backward for this kid, don?t they?
FRIDAY FLURRIES
It?s been made official by Main Events; Zab Judah will face Kaiser ?Permanente? Mabuza for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title on March 5th from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey…M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England will be the venue for Amir Khan?s next outing on April 16th…I guarantee there will be at least 15,000 people at the Madison Square Garden on March 12th, when Sergio Martinez faces Sergiy Dzinziruk. Of course, that?ll be for the Big East hoops tournament final…So Andrew Luck is coming back for his senior year? Those Stanford guys do take their education seriously…I know why Jurgen Brahmer cut out on his fight against Beibut Shumenov- he saw the scorecards that were already filled out in favor of Shumenov in Kazakhstan. I kid, I kid. William Joppy is the late replacement to face Shumenov…The IBF has done the correct thing in mandating the rematch between Luis Lazarte and Ulises Solis for their 108-pound title…Earlier this week, ?Nightline? actually did a segment on the ?Dougie.? Yeah, I remember when Sam Donaldson did a whole show on the ?Cabbage Patch? and ?Running Man? back in the day…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
