MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES & PHOTOS
Unbeaten
Super Welterweight Opens Up On The 154-Pound Division, Pros In The Olympics
& Muhammad Ali As He Prepares To Face Willie Nelson In WBC Title Eliminator This Saturday, Live on SHOWTIME®
Photos by Stanley Bois/A Team Promotions
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A Team Promotions hosted an open media
workout on
Monday at
Bix Six Academy in Providence for undefeated former world championDemetrius
"Boo Boo" Andrade (22-0,
15 KOs). The 2008 U.S. Olympian, of Providence, R.I., is finalizing
preparations for this
Saturday 12-round
WBC Super Welterweight eliminator against Willie
"The Great" Nelson (25-2-1, 15 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio,
in one of three fights on SHOWTIME
CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING ® live on SHOWTIME (9 p.m. ET/6
p.m. PT) from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y.
Tickets for the live
event, which is promoted by Banner Promotions, Inc., are priced at $85, $60,
$45 and $35 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased in person at the
Turning Stone Box Office, by calling 877.833.SHOW, or online at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com).
Here's what Andrade,
who'll also be risking his WBO International title, said Monday:
DEMETRIUS ANDRADE
Reflections of
Muhammad Ali:
"Muhammad Ali
certainly shook the world, and not only in boxing. He was colorful;
nobody talked like him. He helped boxers, too. Ali is the reason
Floyd (Mayweather, Jr.) is who he is because Ali set the bar high.
"As an
entertaining boxer, Ali brought blacks and whites together and later he spread
the word about religion, culture and his other diverse interests.
"What young boxer
didn't do the Ali Shuffle? I know I did, and taunted my opponents like
him, too."
About Pros in the
Olympics:
"I'm for pros in
the Olympics as long as an amateur, who has a few Olympic trials, has the first
opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. Coming up in the amateurs, I
fought grown men, some who had been Olympians a few times. I was 21 and
some of the opponents were 34-35 and had already been Olympians one or two
times. They had advantages in experience, power and skill.
Unfortunately, Americans only have Olympic opportunities when they're young
amateurs.
"Would I go the
Olympics now? Yes! The Olympics is the biggest thing on the planet.
To represent the United States
On the 154-pound
division:
"I'm putting myself
in the best position to fight for the WBO or WBC title. There are rumors
of Canelo fighting (WBO champion Liam) Smith. Let me fight Smith and the
winner gets Canelo. Or let me fight Canelo with the winner getting
Smith.
"I'm going to
knock out the Charlo twins. Both guys have fought on SHOWTIME, so those
fights shouldn't be too difficult to make. Once I take care of business
with the Charlo twins, I'll fight Lara (WBA champion) to clean up the
division."
On Gennady Golovkin:
"I definitely
want to fight Golovkin. Let me build myself up first, by cleaning out the
154-division, and then we'll have a mega-fight with two different styles.
GGG is known for his knockouts. I knock out people, too, but I'm a better
boxer than him. It'll be one of the biggest fights in the sport of
boxing. I'm going to clean up the 154-division, make my reputation and
then it's a go with GGG."
Relationship with his
opponent Willie Nelson:
"We were in the U.S.
"Nelson is
experienced having gone through the amateurs. He fought (Vanes) Martirosyan,
who I beat (for the vacant WBO title by 12-round unanimous decision).
He's fought at this level. I know he's tall, but I'm 6-foot-1, so our
height difference isn't serious."
On returning to the
ring:
"I'm pleased that
we have this opportunity. SHOWTIME has given me this chance and now it's
up to me to prove I can backup what we said."
For more information: Twitter: @AndradeATeam, @BooBooBoxing,
@ShowtimeBoxing, @SHOSports. Instagram: @BooBooATeam, www.Facebook.com.
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