Demetrius Andrade Gets Ready To Step Up To The Plate Against Freddy Hernandez

By Chris Cella

Through his relatively young career, former Olympian Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade has put together an unblemished record of 18-0 with 13 wins coming by way of knockout. But despite how his resume appears on paper, in the boxing world he has not faced any true formidable opponents, leaving a bit of doubt how he perform against a high caliber fighter.

Questions about if Andrade is as good as his record makes him out to be will be answered this Friday when he goes to battle with former world title challenger Freddy Hernandez (30-2, 20 KO) in a 10-round junior middleweight main event as part of Showtime’s acclaimed Series ShoBox: The Next Generation.

This will be Andrade’s first fight since beginning training with renowned trainer Virgil Hunter only months ago.

“All coaches get their fair share of calls, and I get some, too,” Hunter said. “Demetrius called me and we started talking. I’d been aware of him because he was an Olympian and knew he was a good kid, but once we met I was most definitely very pleased to make his acquaintance. I enjoy working with him.”

Andrade has slowly been establishing himself as a dangerous opponent in the junior middleweight, and has stopped his adversary in his last four fights. Though he has yet truly been tested in his professional career at the hands of a viable opponent, Andrade has done what he is supposed to do…make easy work out of the fighters put in front of him.

“I’ve been training at Virgil’s private gym in Hayward, Calif.,” said Andrade. “I knew Virgil from him being in the amateur program and I just reached out to him. He’s a stand-up guy and everything’s going smoothly. We’re just taking it one step at a time, just getting in shape for this fight.”

Looking to hand him the first loss of his career, Freddy Hernandez will be looking to shine to show that he is ready to step up and make a title run in 2013. In his last 15 fights he has gone 13-2, with his only two losses coming at the hands of former welterweight champion Andre Berto and title contender Erislandy Lara.

Hernandez is the more powerful, skilled and experienced fighter, and this fight will undoubtedly paint a picture of where Andrade is at in his career, and if his name belong amongst the top echelon names in the junior middleweight division.

“I’m not much of a talker outside of the ring, I’d rather just let my fight inside do the talking for me,” said Hernandez.

Hernandez has fallen short against top tier opponents in two of his last three outings; he needs to put on a good show against Andrade and show that he has what it takes to fight for a belt.

The action begins live this Friday, January 25 on Showtime at 10 p.m. Eastern.