Demetrius Andrade is confident he can not only beat November 25 opponent David Benavidez but everyone in the super middlweight division.
"With my athletic ability and my preparation," Andrade said Friday to reporters at a Bay Area workout, "I can beat anyone."
The Premier Boxing Champions event, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena and will air on Showtime Sports pay-per-view, is one of the biggest fights in the end-of-year schedule — and follows a theme PBC has helped set and maintain in 2023, pitting the best against the best.
Andrade, an oft-overlooked competitor, takes on the toughest challenge of his career when he takes on the tenacious and rugged boxer Benavidez.
Meanwhile, Benavidez — fresh from a sterling win over Caleb Plant — hopes to score another big-time scalp to maintain the momentum he has built this year ahead of, what he hopes, could be a massive, all-Mexican shootout with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez.
Andrade, though, can throw a wrench in those plans.
"This has really been a great camp," he said. "We’ve gotten through the ups and downs and we’ve done everything we need to do to get the victory in this matchup."
As Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe told ProBox TV recently, Andrade cannot be overlooked. And, he too, speaks like he thinks this is a far more competitive match on paper than it might seem in the mindset of fans and bookmakers.
“I've fought every style there is today," said Andrade. "I just have to go in there, find his weakness and figure out what’s going to work. I’m gonna step forward with my best foot and I expect David to do the same, even though his feet are not as great as mine. We’ll be having fun in there."
He continued: "I've waited my whole career for this. With what we both have inside of us, it’s gonna make it a great fight.
"I don’t really know his strengths until I get in there, but from watching him, he likes to overwhelm his opponents. That’s really all I see. November 25 tune in and I’m gonna expose his weaknesses.
"This is the best fighting the best," Andrade finished. "It's a great moment. The timing couldn’t be any better. It’s the fight that makes all the sense in the world right now."
