Demetrius Andrade is willing to fight Dmitry Bivol.
Andrade recently spoke to ProBox TV, and one of the names that came up was the WBA light heavyweight champion, Bivol, who has recently stated he’d be willing to fight in the super middleweight division.
Andrade is set to face David Benavidez for the interim WBC super middleweight title on November 25th, which will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, live on Showtime pay-per-view. This is the type of fight Andrade has been clamoring for, but for the past decade, Andrade has been one of the most avoided fighters in the sport. Contrast that to Bivol, who defeated Canelo Alvarez and Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, and then somehow was unable to compete in 2023. The two appear on paper to be some of the most avoided modern boxers in the sport.
“Yeah, for sure, I actually think he is a [super middleweight],” Andrade told ProBox TV directly about Dmitry Bivol. “He carries his weight well. He is not like a tall guy, he is able to fight with the [light heavyweights] which is great.”
“If he could come down to [super middleweight] he’d definitely bring more to the [division],” said Andrade. “Of course, it would have to be over here with Showtime. All the [super middleweights] are here.”
“We just need to support a good fight. Two people who are good fighting each other. That is all that matters, reporters, and everybody else who matters needs to get behind that more. Not [listening to] some boxer doesn’t want to make a fight, because the fight could be difficult. ‘You want payday’ [Andrade imitated Canelo’s mockery of him from a press conference], ‘who are you, what’s your resume’, dude my resume - I have been boxing all my life and never lost. Two-division world champion, looking to [win] my third. What else? What do I need to prove my resume for? [expeltive] don’t want to fight.”
Andrade clearly is very irritated with one of the cash cows of the sport, Canelo Alvarez, as Canelo seemingly strategically chose different more advantageous fights than Andrade in the infancy of the DAZN platform and broadcast deal, when both were signed to DAZN and Matchroom Boxing. When Andrade went to create some friction with Canelo at a post-fight press conference, Canelo treated him like a nobody, something that was turned into a meme and parodied - rather than applauded for trying to make the fight. It is clear Andrade is still frustrated with Canelo, who he seems to believe has curated his career in a specific way taking fights of great benefit at opportune times.
“[Canelo] fights someone who is actually good like Dmitry Bivol, who understands boxing, has been around, and gave him a hard time - and then the excuses start coming,” said Andrade. ’He was too big,’ come on, man. Enough with the [expletive], just be happy we just [saw] two good fighters fighting each other. No excuses, it is what it is."
Andrade, 35-years-old, last fought in January of this year against Demond Nicholson as the opening bout of the Gervonta Davis versus Hector Luis Garcia pay-per-view.
