Demetrius Andrade

Amateur career

Demetrius Andrade obtained arguably the most successful amateur boxing reputation amongst all Rhode Island fighters in history. A Providence native of Cape Verdean descent, southpaw Andrade began boxing in 1994 at the age of 6. His nickname "Boo Boo" quickly became well known amongst the locals and he later became a recognized name across the United States.

Andrade won the United States Amateur Boxing Championship in 2005, and repeated it in 2006 when he also won the National Golden Gloves. He again won the National Golden Gloves in 2007, but did not compete in the U.S. Amateurs that year due to injury.

Andrade initially struggled at the international level, losing to Eastern Europe opponents at the World Cup in 2005 and 2006. However, he won the silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the gold medal match to Brazilian hometown favorite Pedro Lima by a narrow 7-6 margin.

He won Gold at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he beat Kakhaber Zhvania, Dmitrijs Sostaks, 2005 silver medalist Magomed Nurutdinov, future champion Jack Culcay-Keth, and Adem Kılıçcı in the semifinal round. He beat Non Boonjumnong of Thailand in the finals, a match in which Andrade inflicted a standing eight count upon Boonjumnong and was leading by a score of 11-3 in the second round when Boonjumnong retired with an injury to his right arm.

Andrade attempted one last amateur endeavor before deciding to become professional. At the Olympic trials he defeated hard-punching Keith Thurman 27:13 In 2008, Demetrius Andrade was honored with the satisfaction of representing the USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he became known as one of the favorites to win a gold medal. He overcame Kakhaber Zhvania and the highly regarded Russian Andrey Balanov 14:3 to advance to the quarterfinals but he was shocked by Korean veteran Kim Jung-Joo 9:11 (Olympic results) in a controversial loss. Though unable to win an Olympic Gold Medal that year, Andrade decided to end his exceptional amateur campaign and become a professional.

Early career

Demetrius Andrade became a professional boxer and had his first pro fight in October 2008.

He defeated Patrick Cape at Northern Quest Casino, Airway Heights, Washington in a second round knockout. He went on to win a TKO over Eric Marriott before making his Friday Night Fights debut against Tom Joseph on March 6 with a 1st round TKO victory. Only 2 weeks later, Demetrius beat Arnulfo Javier Romero in a second round KO. On June 19, 2009 he won in a unanimous decision against Tony Hirsch and followed up with another KO against Chad Greenleaf in the second round.

Andrade went on to defeat John Williams by TKO in the 6th round, and Chris Chatman by unanimous decision. Andrade’s record jumped to an impressive 9-0 record after demolishing Italian boxer Bernardo Guereca, with a 1st round KO. Demetrius defeated his next ten opponents, including five fights ending by KO and the others ending by unanimous decision.

Andrade vs. Martirosyan

An opportunity arose when the vacant World Boxing Organization Light Middleweight title would be decided by one match between Andrade and Armenian contender Vanes Martirosyan. Martirosyan was undefeated with 33 wins under his belt. On November 9, 2013, at the American Bank Center in Texas, Andrade defeated Vanes Martirosyan via split decision (114-113, 117-110 & 112-115) to win the vacant WBO Light Middleweight title. Andrade was knocked down in the first round from a left hook by Martirosyan after dominating the entire round. Andrade used his jab and quickness to dominate and control the rest of fight.

Andrade vs. Rose

In Andrade’s first title defense at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he dominated his mandatory opponent Brian Rose, a British native via 7th round TKO. Andrade was ahead on all scorecards (60-51 & 60-52 twice) at the time of stoppage. Rose was dropped hard by straight left hand from Andrade in the first round. In round 3, Andrade connected with a counter right hook, which put Rose on the canvas a second time. Referee Michael Griffin stepped in to put an end to the one-sided beatdown in round 7. Compubox showed Andrade landed 149 of 452 total punches (33%), while Rose connected on a minor 30 of 179 total punches (17%). The fight advanced Andrade to an outstanding 21-0 on June 14, 2014.

Inactivity and comeback

After 13 months with no title defenses and none scheduled, Andrade was stripped of the title by the World Boxing Organization Committee.

On October 17, 2015, Andrade won the vacant World Boxing Association International Light middleweight title by knocking out Dario Fabian Pucheta in the second round.

Andrade defeated Willie Nelson at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino on June 11, 2016 in a WBC light middleweight final eliminator via 12th round stoppage. This win put Andrade in line for a WBC World light middleweight title shot against newly crowned champion Jermell Charlo.

Andrade vs. Culcay-Keth

Andrade agreed terms to fight Jack Culcay (22-1, 11 KOs) for the WBA regular light middleweight title at the MBS Arena in Potsdam, Brandenburg on November 5, 2016. Sauerland Event won the purse bid for the fight at $425,144, 25% of which will go to Andrade. Showtime confirmed they would not be broadcasting the fight, despite interest in Andrade, due to them not wanting to go head to head with Manny Pacquiao's return on that same date. Andrade defeated Culcay in the amateurs on the way to winning gold at the 2007 World Championships. The fight was cancelled after it was revealed Andrade's camp had failed to meet several deadlines the WBA had set for the official contracts to be signed. The contract was eventually signed, however as they have failed to meet the deadlines given by the WBA and Team Sauerland, the fight remained cancelled.

On January 14, 2017 reports suggested that a contract had been signed between Andrade and Jack Culcay to fight for the WBA regular title on March 11. The fight was officially confirmed weeks later to take place at the Freidrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Andrade became a two time world champion after winning the WBA 'regular' title via split decision. Two judges scored the bout 116-112, 116-112 for Andrade whilst the third had it 115-114 for Culcay. The fight was regarded as close, with as many as five rounds being tossed between the two. Sky Sports pundits had Andrade a clear close winner as he outworked Culcay. In the post fight interview, Andrade credited his performance, "I thought I did everything that I needed to do. I came to Germany and took the title. Culcay came like a champion, but I was the better man. I outlanded him and I came out with the victory." He also stated that he was happy to be back in the world title mix and defend against the best 154 pound fighters.