Demetrius Andrade has made it clear that he has the beating of former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Speaking to ‘On The Ropes Boxing Radio’, Andrade claimed he is the only boxer capable of beating the retired 49-0 fighter.
Andrade is a talented individual, his career troubled by inactivity. But still, he boasts a 23-0(16KO’s) record and is the former WBO light-middleweight champion – he never lost his belt in the ring.
Many – including myself – were intrigued by the potential of Mayweather fighting a prime Paul Williams – a fight that never came close to materialising.
Not as spindly as Williams, but Andrade is a 6ft fighter with long arms and more than respectable punching power – as shown last time out with a perfect performance against Willie Nelson (TKO 12).
(Highlights via Showtime):
Andrade can mix it up on the inside too, a picture perfect uppercut is combined with good upper body movement.
A good portion of Andrade’s work comes off the front foot, and ultimately he does walk onto the odd punch – it would be more than that in the ring with the counter punching of Mayweather.
His long limbs would cause problems for Mayweather, as would his own speed. Mayweather would need all his guile to outwit Andrade as he would be unable to top the younger boxer with his physical attributes.
How tentative Andrade would be in the ring with Mayweather, would likely determine his success rate.
Waiting too long for his opportunities would allow Floyd to send in a handful of counters to steal the rounds, but being overzealous would allow for Mayweather to rack up the points while also discouraging Andrade as the fight wore on.
So does Andrade really stand a chance of beating Mayweather if it ever came to fruition?
As things stand it would have to be a no. Andrade is still improving, while it is impossible to say whether or not Mayweather would have declined during his time out of the ring.
He seems quiet occupied with other businesses outside of boxing also at the moment, so it’s hard to say when or if Mayweather will make a comeback.
A fight with Erislandy Lara would give us a better insight as to how Andrade would fare with a defensive specialist – a win over the Cuban would certainly place more credibility into Andrade’s claim that he is the man to dethrone Floyd.
(Image source and credit: Demetrius Andrade Twitter)
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