WBO middleweight champ Demetrius Andrade pretty much did as he pleased last night in his maiden title defence against tough but limited challenger Artur Akavov, who the 30 year old southpaw stopped in the 12th and final round. There will be bigger tests and bigger fights for Andrade, 27-0(17) soon enough. In fact, this is very much what Andrade wants.
Believing he is the best middleweight in the world today bar none, Andrade wants to prove it. A fight with world champ Canelo Alvarez will have to wait, but Andrade could fight former champ (and in the opinion of many still the best at 160) Gennady Golovkin sooner rather than later. At least Andrade says he wants to fight GGG.
“Put Golovkin in front of me, I’ll destroy him,” a victorious Andrade said last night.
We have yet to hear what Triple-G plans to do next – who he will sign up with, when he will make his ring return and who against. But would a “comeback” fight against the reigning WBO middleweight champ make sense? GGG may decide he needs a tune-up type fight before he goes on the hunt for belts, and maybe an Andrade fight would be a somewhat foolish move for GGG in his first fight back. Then again, Golovkin may wish to come back from the close loss to Canelo with a bang, a statement.
If GGG goes with DAZN (as plenty of people think will be the case) a Golovkin-Andrade fight would probably prove to be a relatively easy fight to make. It would be a fascinating clash of styles if Andrade and Golovkin did meet. Slick operator Andrade says “put Golovkin in front of me, I’ll destroy him,” and if the two do clash, GGG will be right there in front of Andrade, doing his best to take him out. Might GGG prove to be the destroyer in the fight?
Or will the boxer beat the aggressive puncher? It’s a potential classic and Andrade wants it. Will he get the attention of Triple-G, if the man known as “Boo Boo” hasn’t done so already?