Demetrius Andrade sees his fight against David Benavidez as the moment he becomes a household name.
Andrade, who is a two-division world champion, has been obscured from mainstream fight fans for one reason or another throughout his career but now hopes to change that.
Andrade held a media day at the SNAC Gym in San Carlos, California, on Friday, to promote his November 25th pay-per-view fight against Benavidez. The winner by default becomes the most sought-after challenger in the division - and that division has Canelo Alvarez holding all four world titles. The fact the WBC interim world title is on the line should mean that the winner would be mandated to fight Canelo next, but boxing is not always that simple. Yet, Andrade made it clear Canelo was not going to be the talking point of this event, more so the transformation and success that has molded him into this position of becoming the best super middleweight in the world.
“It is time for the best to fight the best, the moment is right, and the time couldn’t be any better,” said Andrade to ProBox TV. “I am part of Showtime history because they are about to come to an end. It is my mark, and it is time for me to become that household name before I give it up. Time waits for no man, and I can’t fight forever. Like I said before, he has nowhere to go and I have nowhere to go - and it only made sense. This is for the Super Bowl of boxing right now. This is it, it doesn’t get [any] bigger than this.”
“At the end of the day come November 25th, we are going to fight, I am going to put my skills and abilities against his,” said Andrade. “To the mainstream [boxing fans] I believe [I am the most underrated boxer], because of my journey. The obstacles I had to deal with. I kept coming on top, doing what I had to do, no harm, no foul, [against Benavidez] I will have the chance [to] give everybody what they have been missing out on.”
“Twenty-three-inch legs right now I am doing alright,” said Andrade with a chuckle about his size leading into this fight. “We are building our body to do what we [need it] to do. Speed, endurance, mental, physical, and spiritual realm is high. So we are coming into this fight with everything. Nothing to be worried about…If you do the mathematics and I say I am six feet [tall], and a person says I am 6’1”, then someone who is 5’9” goes oh that is big. At the end of the day, it is only an inch or two, it is not that big of a difference.”
While his loyal team sat by and sang his praises, it was Andrade who concluded his media workout with a salute to his team from coaches to Victor Conte, the owner of SNAC System, to Casey Croft and Mike Bazzel people who often don’t get the shine. Demetrius Andrade’s media workout felt as much a celebration of his achievements and his ability in boxing as it did a media workout. As the head honcho of SNAC System Victor Conte even praised Andrade at the end of the workout.
“Boo Boo is the captain of team SNAC,” said Victor Conte as he praised Andrade. “He came here back in I believe 2014, this is God’s favorite right here. I believe he is the most skilled, genuine in terms of just special talent, ring IQ, the whole package.”
Andrade concluded by stating that he does not see himself as the smaller man. As Andrade’s speed was not diminished in his hour media workout as it appeared that he was just as explosive and even stronger at this new weight class. Two undertones were taken from the media workout 1) Andrade is not small for his weight, and 2) everyone close to him has an extremely quiet confidence in his abilities leading up to this fight.
“People just have this perception of [Benavidez] being this big guy. I’m also a big guy. Yeah, he puts on a lot of weight it seems like, but that could be in my favor”
