Via Jim Calfa: Demetrius Andrade was ordered by the World Boxing Organization to defend his WBO middleweight belt against interim 160 lb champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in his next bout.
undefeated former world champions Andrade (31-0.19 KOs) and Janibek (12-0.8 KOs) have 30 days to negotiate a deal before WBO conduct a purse auction.
However, it is not yet known whether Andrade, 34, will agree to enter the fight with Janibek, as it is a high-risk, low-reward contest for Rhode Island natives.
It’s no surprise Andrade isn’t excited about the prospect of being in the ring with Janibek as it promises to be a grueling matchup.
Like many other boxers, Andrade had hoped for a big fight against Canelo Alvarez or Gennadiy Golovkin, but he was ignored by both. Canelo even kicked Demetrius off his post-fight press conference last year, telling him he was a “bad boxer,” despite the Mexican star’s recent fight with Avni Yildirim. .
Andrade is in the same boat as Janibek, with him taking too much of a risk for famous boxers who want to take on him. Even WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo has shown no interest in fighting Andrade, and that tells you something because he’s been fighting underdogs since winning the title. 160 lb in 2018.
If Demetrius decides to skip his 160-lb WBO title, he can always find a way to fight for the IBF, WBA or WBO belt.
The main problem with Andrade giving up his WBO belts is that it can be a long time before he becomes a must-have for one of the other three belts because those champions will never be. now ready to fight him in a voluntary defense.
IBF/WBA champion Gennadiy Golovkin could retire after he faces Canelo Alvarez in their three-part match in September. If Golovkin doesn’t hang up his gloves, he won’t pick Andrade for his next match.
First-placed Janibek won the provisional 160-lb WBO title on May 21, knocking out Danny Dignum in the second round in a total massacre in Las Vegas.
Two other notable wins for the 29-year-old nampaw Janibek come to these boxers: Hassan’ NDam and Rob Brant.
Janibek is from Kazahstan and competed at the 2016 Olympics for his country. He has a great left hand and a dangerous puncher. We don’t know how good he is yet because he hasn’t fought back well enough to find out how he would do with superiors like Andrade, Golovkin, Jermall or Canelo.
