By: Hans Themistode
Demetrius Andrade has never quite seen eye to eye with Canelo Alvarez, but in this case, he understands where he’s coming from.
As the WBO middleweight titlist prepares himself to take in the sights for Alvarez’s upcoming showdown against WBA/Ring magazine super middleweight belt holder Callum Smith, he can’t help but wish that he was in that exact position. For years now Andrade has called for a showdown with Alvarez. Unfortunately for him however, his pleas haven’t come true.
While the wait to face Alvarez is still a long one, Andrade has taken a peak at who else wants to face the pound-for-pound star and he has come to a conclusion.
“We have to fight each other,” said Andrade during an interview with DAZN. “Canelo is fighting Callum Smith, he’s fighting GGG (Gennadiy Golovkin) and these guys but we need to fight each other. We can’t sit there and wait to see who Canelo picks. We need to get in the ring with each other so we can demand for Canelo to pick us.”
Alvarez, of course, is roughly 24 hours away from facing the much larger Smith in the Alamodome in San Antonio Texas. According to the Mexican native, the decision making that went into facing Smith simply boiled down to his career accomplishments. With two titles in the 168-pound division as well as the World Boxing Super Series trophy, Alvarez believes that Smith is the best that the super middleweight division has to offer.
While Alvarez alleges that Smith was picked due to his merit, Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) believes that everyone else who is calling for a showdown with the pound for pound star should stop begging and groveling and simply put in the work.
“It’s like (Jermall) Charlo, Billy Joe Saunders, Callum Smith and GGG have a poster of Canelo over their beds and be like please pick me Canelo, please pick me. I feel bad for Canelo. We need to start fighting each other so that we can demand the Canelo fight. Canelo shouldn’t have to fight me, GGG, Charlo and all these guys. We need to fight and eliminate who needs to be eliminated.”
For Andrade, his path to an Alvarez showdown isn’t an easy one, but he believes it’s clear. Former WBO middleweight champion and current WBO super middleweight belt holder Billy Joe Saunders has long wanted to face Andrade. Due to various reasons over the years, they have yet to actually face one another.
With a win in his last contest against Martin Murray, Saunders has once again thrown his name into the mix for both a matchup with Andrade and Alvarez. While nothing is imminent, a date with Saunders is just what Andrade suspects he needs in order to separate himself from the pack of future Alvarez opponent hopefuls.
“That’s what I’ve been asking for, for a long time now. I want to get in there with the elite guys, one of the best guys. Saunders is one of those guys. I have the WBO in the 160-pound division. Me moving up to 168 should be an easy deal to make.”
