In his first fight under the tutelage of 2011 Trainer of the Year Virgil Hunter, Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade (19-0, 13 KO) sent a message to the junior middleweight, and middleweight division. In his toughest test to date, Andrade went 10 rounds with dangerous former world title contender Freddy Hernandez and never struggled winning a shutout 100-89 decision on all three judge's scorecards in the main event of Showtime's ShoBox: The Next Generation broadcast.
Andrade, who was 9 pounds over weight earlier this week cut down to 154 1/4 for the Hernandez fight and didn't show any signs of being slowed down by dehydration. Andrade threw 759 punches over 10 rounds, landing 43% of his total punches, including a devestating right hook which sent Hernandez to the canvas in the 8th round. Hernandez, who is a wily veteran did a smart thing by spitting out his mouthpiece when he went down in the 8th, buying him some time. It was mentioned during the broadcast that from the time Hernandez went down from the punch to the time the fight was restarted 37 seconds had elapsed. The break was enough to get Hernandez back into the fight and was likely the difference between Andrade winning the fight in the 8th round and the fight ultimately going to the difference.
The win puts Andrade in a position to challenge Zaurbek Baysangurov (28-1, 20 KO) for the WBO light middleweight title. I'd love to tell you something interesting about Baysangurov, but I don't really know much about him. I know he's never fought in the United States and his loss came to K9 Bundrage in Germany. His record looks pretty suspect, and Steve Farhood of Showtime suggested that Baysangurov is very beatable.
However, Andrade did struggle to make weight, and Virgil Hunter seemed to suggest that this would be the last time Andrade fought at 154 pounds. If Andrade jumps to 160 but is able to maintain his speed and workrate, he is going to be a very dangerous fighter in a division that has some very good top talent, but is wide open for a guy like Andrade.
One thing is for certain. I've been watching Andrade almost since the moment he turned pro, and this was his most complete performance. Virgil Hunter is the real deal as a trainer and while I thought Andrade did well with his father in his corner, I think the addition of Virgil Hunter to the team is going to be a major coup for Andrade moving forward in his career.
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