By Jake Donovan
February 14, 2022
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Demetrius Andrade and Zach Parker remain locked in talks for a showdown with major title fight implications.
BoxingScene.com has learned that a ten-day extension was granted for the pair of unbeaten boxers to come to terms for a previously approved WBO interim super middleweight title fight. The fight was originally ordered January 28, which came with a ten-day deadline to reach terms in avoiding a purse bid hearing. As much extra time has been allotted for a matchup that serves in lieu of two mandatory title fights.
The interim title fight between Providence’s Andrade (31-0, 19KOs) and Parker (22-0, 16KOs) brings longtime rivals Eddie Hearn and Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren to the negotiating table. Andrade fights under Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing banner, while Warren’s Queensberry Promotions represents Parker. Andrade made the decision to move up in weight just days ahead of a rescheduled purse bid hearing to determine promotional rights for his mandatory WBO middleweight title fight with Kazakhstan’s Janibek Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7KOs). A fight with Parker was in play during the beginning of the negotiation period shortly after the WBO ordered Andrade-Alimkhanuly last November 30.
Too much time had elapsed without a deal in place for the super middleweight fight, leaving the sanctioning body to call a purse bid hearing for Andrade-Alimkhanuly. The session has since endured four separate delays before being tabled once Andrade-Parker was back in play.
Engalnd’s Parker has been the WBO super middleweight mandatory contender dating back to his eleventh-round knockout of Rohan Murdock in March 2020. Three stay busy wins have followed in an active 2021 campaign, including a fourth-round knockout of Marcus Morrison in his most recent bout last November 6 in Birmingham, England.
Andrade has made five defenses of his WBO middleweight title. His most recent win came in a second-round knockout of Ireland’s Jason Quigley last November 19 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The victory lap was cut short, as he was ordered to begin talks with Alimkhanuly just eleven days later. The flexibility at least allows Andrade to put that fight on hold, though it doesn’t eliminate his responsibilities at middleweight.
However, it provides the freedom for Andrade to pursue an even bigger fight even if not guaranteeing a clear shot at undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (57-1-2, 39KOs). Ideally, Andrade—with a win over Parker—would be left to choose between remaining at super middleweight or returning to his WBO middleweight title reign. The latter would leave him mandated to next face the winner of an approved WBO interim middleweight title fight between Alimkhanuly and Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao, a 2012 Olympic Silver medalist who is also the mandatory challenger to the IBF middleweight title.
A more desirable scenario awaits the winner of Andrade-Parker, who will be conditionally approved to enter a rare interim title unification clash with the forthcoming WBC claimant. Former two-time WBC super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (25-, 22KOs) and former IBF middleweight titleholder David Lemieux (43-4, 36KOs) await a fight date for their WBC interim title fight. The matchup was approved by the WBC during its annual convention last November, though the fight has yet to make its way to the Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) springtime schedule.
The WBC granted permission for Phoenix’s Benavidez—the current mandatory to the title he has twice held and lost outside the ring—to pursue such a route shortly after allowing Alvarez the freedom to next challenge WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu if he so chooses. Such a fight remains highly unlikely, though all four sanctioning bodies—WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO—are taking a wait-and-see approach with Alvarez’s next fight, with the opponent and the weight division at which he will complete both undetermined at the moment.
Andrade (through promoter Eddie Hearn) and Benavidez have both publicly stated a willingness to next face another with wins in their separate interim title fights. The two sanctioning bodies have casually agreed to pair up the winners to create something of a super mandatory challenger for Alvarez. Of course, the same benefit is afforded no matter the outcome of either interim title fight.
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