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ATLANTA
(November 4, 2013) – As he prepares to break his Atlanta training
camp and depart for this Saturday night's fight against 2004 U.S.
Olympian Vanes “Nightmare” Martirosyan (33-0-1, 21 KOs) for the vacant
World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight title, undefeated
Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (19-0, 13 KOs) is set to make a major
statement in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Andrade
vs. Martirosyan will be part of an HBO tripleheader, headlined by WBO
junior lightweight Roman Martinez' title defense against Mikey
Garcia, plus a rematch between former world champions Nonito Donaire
and Vic Darchinyan.
Martirosyan
has a powerful team comprised of promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank),
manager Cameron Duncan and Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach
(although he is overseas training Manny Pacquiao). Andrade, a 2008
U.S. Olympian, is co-promoted by Star Boxing and Banner Promotions,
managed by New Hampshire businessman Ed Farris, and trained by his
father, Paul Andrade.
Andrade
understands boxing's political power may rest in his opponent's
corner, especially fighting in a high-profile event promoted by
Martirosyan's promoter, Top Rank, but the 25-year-old Rhode Islander
plans to control the action from the opening bell and steal the entire
show with a scintillating knockout performance.
“I
saw what happened in the (Julio Cesar, Jr.) Chavez-(Brian) Vera
fight,” Andrade explained. “We've all seen what can happen when a
name boxer is fighting on a show promoted by his promoter. My job is
to go in and stop him (Martirosyan). You never want to leave the
fight in the hands of the judges. I learned that lesson the hard way
in The Olympics.”
Favored
to capture a gold medal in Beijing, China, 2007 AIBA World champion
Andrade was the victim of highly questionable scoring, losing on
points in the quarterfinal round to Korean boxer Kim Jung-Joo, 11-9,
at the 2008 Olympic Games.
“I've
trained hard to be fully prepared for this fight,” Andrade
continued. “I'm in 15-round shape for a 12-round fight but it's not
going the distance. Once I get in the ring, I'm going to do whatever I
need to win. I am going to beat him and the knockout will come. I'm
coming to win every round decisively…..until it ends in a KO. I am
going to beat him down for three minutes of every round. I am going
to make a statement that I'm the best 154-pound fighter in the world.”
Andrade
was originally slated to challenge then WBO champion Zaurbek
Baysangurov this past July, but the Russian pulled out of the fight
with an injury and was stripped of his title belt, leaving the world
title vacant for the WBO's two highest rated contenders, No. 1
Martirosyan and No. 2 Andrade.
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