2008 US Olympian and Undefeated Two Division Champion Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) will be back in the ring for the first time in over a year as he will be featured on the January 7th Showtime PPV. Andrade will open up the pay-per-view telecast in his super middleweight debut, a ten round contest against Demond Nicholson (26-4-1, 22 KOs).

The Providence, Rhode Island native has been inactive since his second round stoppage of Jason Quigley (19-2, 14 KOs) last year in a defense of his WBO world middleweight title. He vacated his WBO middleweight title and set his sights on the 168lb division, but was unable to secure a fight with then undefeated Zach Parker (22-1, 16 KOs) for the interim WBO super middleweight title. Andrade was forced to pull out of a scheduled May 21st matchup between the two due to a shoulder injury, and the fight later fell apart due to a low purse bid.

“Boo Boo” now finds himself in the best spot that he has been in years, as this move to PBC puts him in line for a number of potential mouthwatering matchups at 168lbs. Andrade has made it known since joining PBC that he is interested in fighting former 168lb champions David Benavidez (26-0, 23 KOs) and Caleb Plant (22-1, 13 KOs) as well as current WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs). Any of those fights are career defining fights, and Andrade has been hoping to land one for a while now. At 34 years of age, the time is now to make those fights happen.

As a 6 foot tall southpaw with a 73.5″ reach and an elite amateur pedigree who possesses an awkward style that makes him hard to hit, it should not be a surprise that Andrade has trouble finding opponents willing to step into the ring with him. Despite not being able to secure a marquee name on his resume to date, I believe that aligning with Showtime and PBC will bring Andrade one of those opportunities against another elite pugilist in the near future. He is an undefeated two division champion who is one of the most talented fighters that we have in the sport, and I hope he gets a chance to show just how talented he is against fellow elite opposition.

When Andrade joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing stable in 2018, he was set to square off against then undefeated WBO Champion Billy Joe Saunders (30-1, 14 KOs). The fight was scrapped when Saunders tested positive for a banned substance, which left Andrade fighting for the vacant title. He would go on to hand Walter Kautondokwa (18-2, 17 KOs) his first professional defeat by way of an extremely wide unanimous decision, dropping him four times during the duration of the bout (120-104 x2, 119-105).

Once he became a two division champion, Andrade was hoping that he could secure a super fight against either Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KOs) or Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin (42-2-1, 37 KOs), especially with them all fighting under the same network (DAZN). Unfortunately for him, neither of those fights came to fruition and he was left to defend his title against unheralded challengers. A fight with Canelo was mentioned briefly by promoter Eddie Hearn; it would have decided the first undisputed middleweight champion of the four belt era, but was never finalized.

Alvarez bypassed the undisputed opportunity to move up in weight to challenge Sergey Kovalev (35-4-1, 29 KOs) for his 175lb title, which left Andrade in a tough spot with none of the other elite middleweights being eager to call him out. Golovkin never showed any interest in a potential Andrade fight even though it would have been a title unification, so he made fights against world ranked WBO contenders for the time being.

He made five total defenses of his WBO middleweight belt. The two best wins from that span were over Polish Contender Maciej Sulecki (30-2, 11 KOs) and Liam Williams of Britain (24-4-1, 19 KOs). Neither of them are the cream of the crop of the 160lb division, but are both quality fringe top ten contenders, and Andrade was able to score an early knockdown and cruise to a unanimous decision victory in each fight.

When he was asked about a Canelo during this week’s kickoff press conference, Andrade made it known that he has shifted his attention to the other elite guys in the 168lb range who I mentioned earlier. Below I have included several of his responses to questions from the media at the introductory press conference which took place on Monday.

“I’m feeling good. This is a new journey. I’m looking to become a three-division champion. I’m thankful to have this opportunity to showcase my skill and talent on this beautiful card.

“At the end of the day, nothing guarantees a Canelo Alvarez fight. Right now I’m looking at Caleb Plant, David Benavidez and Jermall Charlo. I want all those big names.

“SHOWTIME is a great place to be. I’ve had my journey through my boxing career and now I’m writing my own chapter. January 7 is an opportunity to do what I do best.

“There are a lot of great fights that can be made at 168 pounds and I’m looking to make them. This is a great position right now for me to make those fights.

“My experience and my amateur pedigree will be the difference. My IQ, my talent and my skill overall are going to be huge for me.

“I’m ready to tangle. We both said yes to the fight, and may the best man win. At the end of the day we’re both going to bring our best to the table.

“I’m looking to show that I’m the best. Let’s make this happen. There’s no more excuses. This fight is a stepping stone toward making those things happen and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

“I did my thing at 154 and 160 and now I want to move on to this journey at super middleweight and make it happen.”

Demond Nicholson is a respectable pro who comes to fight each time out. In fact, he was the man who ended the first round knockout streak of Edgar Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs). Though he lost an eight round unanimous decision, he was the first opponent to show some kinks in the armor of the rising Puerto Rican star. He has won three fights in a row since that defeat, including an impressive fifth round stoppage over Gabriel Pham (15-3, 8 KOs).

I fully expect Andrade to do what he does best and win either by stoppage or a wide decision, but he needs to make sure he is completely focused on the task at hand. Nicholson is not the elite opponent that he has been pursuing, but he is game and could throw a wrench into any plans of a potential elite 168lb matchup later this year if not taken seriously.

Andrade vs Nicholson will be the first of four fights on the January 7th Showtime PPV Card which takes place at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Also featured on the card is welterweight contender “Speedy” Rashidi Ellis (24-0, 15 KOs), as he squares off against Roiman Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) in a ten round welterweight bout. Jaron “Boots” Ennis is the co-main event of the card, and will be opposite Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) for a scheduled 12 rounds with the interim IBF welterweight title at stake. The card is headlined by Gervonta “Tank” Davis and the undefeated WBA 130lb champion Hector Luis Garcia (16-0, 10 KOs) as they compete in a 12 round title fight for Davis’s WBA “Regular” 135lb title.