Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas – On Saturday night, former two division world champion Demetrius Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs) suffered the first defeat of his pro career, when he was stopped in six rounds by David Benavidez (28-0, 24 KOs). (photo by Ryan Hafey)
Andrade, a former world champion at junior middleweight and middleweight, was attempting to become a three division world champion.
“I’ll be back – back to the drawing board. I moved up in weight classes. I’ll work on my body a little more and I’ll be right back at it,” Andrade said.
“I thought overall I did everything I needed to do to get the bigger man off me. David’s definitely a hell of a fighter. Nobody was even willing to get in the ring with him. I tried to become a three-division world champion. That’s not far-fetched. David was the man tonight. Congratulations to him and his family. We move on, and we’re going to keep pushing.”
Andrade did well in the early rounds with his speed and quick combinations. The entire fight began to change when a hard right hand dropped Andrade in the fourth round.
Benavidez would dish out punishment for two more rounds before Andrade’s corner had seen enough and stopped the contest.
According to Andrade, the sheer size and power of Benavidez was too much to overcome.
“Benavidez is the bigger man. I wouldn’t say the better skillful man, but he’s the bigger man. I tried to go up to a new weight class. Congratulations to him, and I’ll be back. I have to go back to the drawing board and work on my body a little more. Then, I’ll be right back at it,” Andrade said.
“David is just a big dude. At the end of the day, he’s a hell of a fighter. I thought my skills would overwhelm him, but his size is what got his hand raised today.
“Listen, it’s not that David is a more skillful fighter than me. This is my third division trying to be world champion. I came to fight the bigger man. Nobody’s willing to get in the ring with me. Nobody’s willing to get in the ring with him. I showed what I got. I put it all on the line at 168 pounds, and I did what I had to do today.”
Credit: Boxing Scene