As he prepares to break his Atlanta training camp and depart for this Saturday night’s fight against 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs) for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title, undefeated Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (19-0, 13 KOs) is set to make a major statement in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Martirosyan has a powerful team comprised of promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank), manager Cameron Duncan and Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach (although he is overseas training Manny Pacquiao). Andrade, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, is co-promoted by Star Boxing and Banner Promotions, managed by New Hampshire businessman Ed Farris, and trained by his father, Paul Andrade.
Andrade understands boxing’s political power may rest in his opponent’s corner, especially fighting in a high-profile event promoted by Martirosyan’s promoter, Top Rank, but the 25-year-old Rhode Islander plans to control the action from the opening bell and steal the entire show with a scintillating knockout performance.
“I saw what happened in the (Julio Cesar, Jr.) Chavez-(Brian) Vera fight,” Andrade explained. “We’ve all seen what can happen when a name boxer is fighting on a show promoted by his promoter. My job is to go in and stop him (Martirosyan). You never want to leave the fight in the hands of the judges. I learned that lesson the hard way in The Olympics.”
Favored to capture a gold medal in Beijing, China, 2007 AIBA World champion Andrade was the victim of highly questionable scoring, losing on points in the quarterfinal round to Korean boxer Kim Jung-Joo, 11-9, at the 2008 Olympic Games.
“I’ve trained hard to be fully prepared for this fight,” Andrade continued. “I’m in 15-round shape for a 12-round fight but it’s not going the distance. Once I get in the ring, I’m going to do whatever I need to win. I am going to beat him and the knockout will come. I’m coming to win every round decisively…..until it ends in a KO. I am going to beat him down for three minutes of every round. I am going to make a statement that I’m the best 154-pound fighter in the world.”
Andrade was originally slated to challenge then WBO champion Zaurbek Baysangurov this past July, but the Russian pulled out of the fight with an injury and was stripped of his title belt, leaving the world title vacant for the WBO’s two highest rated contenders, No. 1 Martirosyan and No. 2 Andrade.
Andrade vs. Martirosyan will be part of an HBO tripleheader, headlined by WBO junior lightweight Roman Martinez’ title defense against Mikey Garcia, plus a rematch between former world champions Nonito Donaire and Vic Darchinyan.
