What’s Next for Demetrius Andrade?

On November 25th, 2023, fight fans from all walks of life witnessed an amazing, brutal performance by David Benavidez. His signature power and relentless pressure-style fighting was simply too much for Demetrius Andrade, who is now 32-1, and resulted in a stoppage after round six, where Andrade’s corner stopped the fight.

Even though the odds were -440 vs +335 (the favorite being David Benavidez), multitudes of fans were quite confident, along with Demetrius Andrade himself, that he would outbox Benavidez with his boxing IQ and awkward, unique, ‘slick’ style.

Yet the ease in which Benavidez beat Andrade immensely solidified in a greater magnitude how dangerous Benavidez is in the eyes of fans of the beloved sport.

Despite Benavidez’ highly-convincing victory against Caleb Plant, giving Plant his second loss and solidifying his danger in the ring, the brutal beating he delivered against Andrade multiplied such perception to greater heights.

David Benavidez thanks Demetrius Andrade after their fight in Las Vegas Saturday. Photo: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions

At this point it is essential to point more concerning Demetrius Andrade before answering the question of what’s next for him.

There have been telltale signs of Demetrius Andrade’s slight decline with his conditioning and performance.

One example was back when he fought Liam Williams (now 25-4) on April 17th 2021 where Andrade gave Williams his 3rd loss by way of UD.

In mentioned-fight, Andrade was looking slick as usual, slick defense with the use of his feet, landing calculated uppercuts with precise punch selection in the first four rounds.

Yet things started to change as Liam Williams was landing hard shots in round five where Andrade’s responses were not as slick, sharp and powerful as in the first several rounds. He started to wane.  From then on, his condition was not the same for the rest of the fight.

Granted, he got the victory which was most important, yet his condition and overall performance did not look so sharp as widely known before in his career.

Demetrius Andrade Hadn't Been In Tough Enough

Another important factor that needs to be mentioned also is Andrade’s level of competition in his career prior to the Benavidez fight. There has been a strong debate in the boxing community regarding the matter.

It is essential to understand that Demetrius Andrade had signed a contract extension with Matchroom Boxing under promoter Eddie Hearn back in the beginning of January 0f 2020.

Hopes were high that Eddie Hearn would land bigger and better fights for Demetrius Andrade due to the fact that it was quite known and recognized that under the first signed-contract fight deal with Matchroom, Andrade did not necessarily have signature fights against elite-level opponents.

Fight fans and Demetrius Andrade were soon to realize that a repeated-cycle would occur in the extension of said contract with Matchroom.

There has been much debate and disappointment from fans that Andrade has had a mediocre career according to his potential, skill and talent. The years passed by after the contract-extension where Demetrius Andrade himself made it clear in several instances that Matchroom couldn’t land fights against elite-quality opponents.

That begged the following question, “Why did Andrade choose to continue with Matchroom via signing the contract extension when he previously had mediocre opponents with Matchroom?”

Only after Demetrius Andrade finished his contract-extension deal with Matchroom is when things started looking up for him in signing a deal with PBC.

After fighting and beating Demond Nicholson, who had lost to Edgar Berlanga, the world witnessed Andrade’s biggest step-up fight ever, versus David Benavidez.

Yet, the biggest fight in Andrade’s career was at the age of 35 and such signs that were previously-mentioned in the Liam Williams fight manifested themselves once again, but in a much more extreme fashion during the Benavidez fight.

We now find ourselves in the aftermath and many people are left wondering what is next for Demetrius Andrade. Such a question is quite challenging to answer due to the points mentioned in this read.

Boo Boo Will Think Some, Recover..and Chart Remaining Course

To add, something that must be said at this point is that Andrade is no stranger to layoffs. It is quite probable that after receiving such a harsh beating from Benavidez, that he takes a layoff to recover and think deep and hard about what he’s going to do next.

It is also quite probable that Andrade takes a ‘light touch’ so as not to risk another loss and damage as he did against Benavidez.

The future longevity for Demetrius Andrade in regards to his career as a pro boxer looks somewhat dim. He is soon to be 36 on February 26th 2024, so his age doesn’t favor him.

In addition, it should be considered that there is a big possibility that Andrade, when taking into account his age, may not be/look the same anymore in the ring if matched-up against another elite competitor i.e., Father Time definitely looks to have paid a visit to Andrade.

The community of the sport has high hopes for Andrade’s continuation of his career. However, when considering the aspects mentioned and described in this read, it is quite uncertain what will unfold for Demetrius Andrade.