THERE may not be a career more undistinguished, irrelevant, and reeking of desperation than that of Demetrius Andrade, and in boxing, a sport no stranger to mediocrity, that is saying something. Long criticized for playing with his food against middling opposition, the undefeated – yet sorely unchallenged – titleholder from Providence, Rhode Island made mince meat of Ireland’s Jason Quigley, scoring three knockdowns on his way to earning a stoppage at 2-21 of the second round at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
To be sure, the knockout is a much-needed reprieve from the usual 12-round slog viewers are subjected to in an Andrade fight, but at this point – four years after Andrade picked up the WBO middleweight trinket in 2018 – how is anyone supposed to be impressed?
After a feeling out process for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the opening round, the southpaw Andrade exploded with a right hook that staggered Quigley. Andrade then followed up with a flurry of punches that eventually sent Quigley to the canvas just as the round expired.
It was all downhill from there for the woebegone Irishman.
Andrade should have been credited with another knockdown to start the second round, but referee Arthur Mercante Jr. missed the fact Quigley briefly touched the canvas with his glove. But moments later Andrade dropped him again, courtesy of a well-timed overhand left, and this one counted. Quigley got back up, only for Andrade to pounce on him and drop him once more, prompting Mercante to wave off the bout.
A small consolation is that Andrade made good on his pre-fight promise that he would score a knockout. Of course, it is easier to make those grand proclamations when you know you have a mismatch in front of you. Although Quigley was once a highly regarded prospect under the Golden Boy promotions banner, the Irishman has not been the same since he was stopped by veteran Tureano Johnson in 2019. More recently, Quigley went nip and tuck against the decidedly average Shane Mosley Jnr. In the end, it is not clear how a knockout over Quigley is supposed to rev up Andrade’s flailing and progressively indifferent career.
Passed over as an opponent by former divisional peer Canelo Alvarez – who is now a unified super-middleweight champion with an eye toward fighting at cruiserweight in his next bout – Andrade is something of the odd-man out in what should still be a richly competitive middleweight division. Yet he seems to be no closer to swapping punches with fellow belt-holders Gennadiy Golovkin, who will fight Ryota Murata in December, or Jermall Charlo, whose career is also similarly in the pits. Boxing politics? Perhaps. But Andrade has not helped himself by being mostly unremarkable inside the ring.
Postfight, Andrade, 31, vented his frustration. “I’m 31-0, Olympian and world champion, so what more do I need to do?” Andrade said.
His promoter Eddie Hearn pointed the finger at the other fighters for refusing to get in the ring with the southpaw slickster. “What is going on with boxing when you’ve got two great, undefeated American world champions in the same division, and they won’t share the ring together? There’s one reason: Jermall Charlo,” Hearn said. “Gennadiy Golovkin fighting Murata, if he wins that fight, he has to fight Andrade in a unification. I don’t know what else to say or do. We’ve been here a thousand times before. And I so desperately want to see this guy get his defining moment.”
On the Matchroom Promotions undercard, sparkplug flyweight titleholder Julio Cesar Martinez and veteran McWilliams Arroyo traded early knockdowns but the barnburner they expected to put on never came to fruition. In an anti-climax, the fight was stopped by a ringside doctor after Arroyo indicated that he could not see out of his right eye, over which was a huge gash pumping blood. As the cut was formed by an unintentional butting of heads, the fight was deemed a No-Contest, much to the disappointment of Mexico City’s Martinez, who was beginning to have his way with Arroyo.
It was Puerto Rico’s Arroyo, however, who struck first. Midway through the opening round, Arroyo caught the gung-ho Martinez with a right hand, staggering him. Arroyo then followed up with a left hook that sent Martinez crashing into the ropes, causing referee Johnny Callas to issue a standing eight count. But before the end of the right, Martinez roared back with a left hook of his own that not only dropped Arroyo but left him a bit dazed.
The second round opened up with a clash of heads, with Arroyo taking the bigger brunt of the blow that opened up a cut over his right eye. Shortly thereafter, Martinez dropped Arroyo with yet another booming left hook. Covered in his own blood, Arroyo walked back to his corner. But before the beginning of the third round, a ring doctor asked Arroyo to tell him how many fingers he was holding up. Arroyo simply said, “I can’t see.”
Murodjon Akhmadaliev, a two-belt super-bantamweight titleholder, probably figured he would have an easy night after his original opponent, Ronny Rios, bowed out of the scheduled 12-round defense. But Jose Velasquez, a rugged Chilean contender who took the assignment on late notice, was not about to lie down.
Velasquez hurt the southpaw Akhmadaliev to the body in the seventh round, causing the Uzbek to recoil for the majority of the period. But Akhmadaliev would recover and go on to win a dominant decision. All three judges (Glenn Feldman, John Mafdis, and Eddie Scuncio) scored the bout 119-109 in favor of the Uzbek southpaw.
Providence’s Kali Reis will have a chance to unify the women’s super-lightweight division against Northampton’s Chantelle Cameron after she edged Montreal’s Jessica Camara in a gutty performance that saw her defend her WBA 140-pound belt and pick up the vacant WBO version.
While judge Dave DeJonge scored the bout 96-94 in favor of Camara, his colleagues Tom Schreck and Martha Tremblay both had it a surprisingly wide 97-93 for the Reis.
Easily the most competitive contest of the night, the fight was far closer than those latter two scorecards would indicate.
Reis and Camara traded shots all night, primarily on the inside, with the momentum changing several times. It was Reis who was able to close out on top, spraying Camara with a fusillade of punches to finish out the final round.
Cameron was ringside to watch the bout. The WBC and IBF titleholder is coming off a unanimous decision over Mary McGee last month. She and Reis are expected to meet in the ring sometime in the first half of 2022.