The primary promoter for Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions doesn’t consider Jermall Charlo-Demetrius Andrade as big of a fight as Eddie Hearn sees it.
Andrade’s promoter expressed a willingness after Andrade’s most recent win to send Andrade to a PBC platform for one fight just to make Charlo-Andrade happen later this year. Tom Brown, president of TGB Promotions, questioned Hearn’s motivation for suggesting PBC platforms for that middleweight title unification fight.
“The problem is this: nobody wants to see a Demetrius Andrade fight,” Brown told BoxingScene.com. “And then I wanna steal a line from Eddie Hearn – Demetrius Andrade is absolutely horrendous to watch. So, of course Eddie would like to get Andrade off his platform [DAZN] and have PBC get stuck paying for [a Charlo-Andrade fight].”
Hearn has had difficulty securing a high-profile fight for Andrade since the unbeaten two-division champion signed with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN nearly three years ago.
Brown also took issue with Hearn’s criticism of Charlo’s upcoming optional WBC middleweight title defense against Juan Macias Montiel. Houston’s Charlo (31-0, 22 KOs) is heavily favored to beat Mexico’s Montiel (22-4-2, 22 KOs) in a fight Showtime will televise June 19 in Houston, but Brown believes Hearn should know better than to underestimate determined Mexican underdogs.
“Eddie should know better than anyone after bringing Mauricio Lara over to the UK and he destroyed Josh Warrington,” Brown said of Lara’s ninth-round, technical-knockout win February 13 in London. “This was an unknown, 21-2, tough Mexican kid that came to fight. So, I’d rather have a Juan Macias Montiel, with 22 knockouts in 22 wins, any day of the week in an action slugfest than a Demetrius Andrade stinker.”
Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs) dropped mandatory challenger Liam Williams in the second round of their 12-round fight for Andrade’s WBO middleweight title April 17 in Hollywood, Florida. The left-handed Andrade went on to beat Williams (23-3-1, 18 KOs) by unanimous decision in a main event DAZN streamed from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Hearn called out Charlo and IBF/IBO champ Gennadiy Golovkin, whom Hearn’s company co-promotes, to fight Andrade after his victory over Wales’ Williams (https://www.boxingscene.com/hearn-i-dont-know-what-jermall-charlo-doing-why-not-fight-demetrius-andrade–157073). The outspoken promoter also chastised Charlo for fighting Montiel, who was knocked out by countryman Jaime Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs) in the second round in February 2017.
Brown defended the 30-year-old Charlo’s resume, particularly the two-division champion’s signature wins against Julian Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs).
“He’s coming off an impressive victory over Sergiy Derevyanchenko,” Brown said of Charlo’s dominant points win versus Derevyanchenko on September 26. “Derevyanchenko gave Golovkin his most grueling fight to date. He handled him easier than both Triple-G and Danny Jacobs did. So that was a huge victory over a very talented fighter. And then Mall’s a two-weight world champion. His last fight against a 154-pounder was against the undefeated number one contender in the IBF, Julian Williams. He retained the title in a fifth-round stoppage. He dropped him I think once in the second round and twice in the fifth round before the fight was stopped. So, he’s got a bit of a resume, and a lot more than anyone’s giving him credit for.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.