WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade 27-0 (17) believes he can be as big a name as Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin with a little more exposure.
The 31-year-old southpaw made the comments ahead of his big homecoming fight against Maciej Sulecki 28-1 (11) at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island this Saturday night live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK.
“I’m an Olympian and a two-weight world champion, but that’s not enough because there’s a lot of people that haven’t seen my talent displayed in the mainstream like some other fighters, like Canelo Alvarez, as Golden Boy did a great job moving him and GGG had great promotion too, but they’re not the greatest talents out there, they are just the most popular. It’s called prize fighting and I am looking to capitalize on that, with the capital,” Andrade said.
“I’ve got air in me now. Should I have been the guy like Canelo with the machine behind him? Yeah, I could’ve been that, but it didn’t fall that way for me, but now I’m here. I kept my focus in mind, body and soul and continued to grind, because anyone else, this boxing game is hard and people give up, especially when there’s no money coming in as you have to pay the bills.
“I’ve been through the politics of boxing and found my way out of it, just like I’ve found my way to win in every fight. Being who I am and having the team around me has got me to the point where I’m headlining the Dunk as an undefeated world champion.
“Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing USA have realized the talent and the character that I am, and DAZN are doing a great job too, giving the different characters in the sport the exposure so that people can tune in outside the people we already know. Through the obstacles I’ve been through, they tried to sweep me under the rug, I got back up, wiped off the dirt and it’s me again.
“To be the first Cape Verdean as an undisputed champion would be history and the same for New England, we’ve only really had Vinny Paz and that was 30 years ago. I’m continuing to catapult myself to be the best I can and set the bar high for others.”
Also on the card WBA super flyweight champion Kal Yafai will defend against mandatory challenger Norbelto Jimenez and former WBO heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker will take on former world title challenger Alex Leapai.
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