Demetrius Andrade has until end of July to avoid being stripped of WBO title
Undefeated former Olympian Demetrius Andrade is still the WBO junior middleweight champion.
For how long remains to be seen.
Andrade (21-0, 14 KOs) has not defended his title since stopping Brian Rose in the seventh round at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in June 2014.
The 27-year-old fighter from Providence, R.I., turned down a Dec. 13, 2014, fight with Jermell Charlo on Showtime, part of a three-fight deal with the network, because he and his team were unhappy with the money.
His promoters have run into roadblocks trying to arrange a fight against 40-year-old former champion Anthony Mundine in Australia.
The WBO sent a letter this week to Andrade's co-promoters, Banner Promotions and Star Boxing, saying that it has been more than lenient with Andrade and would give them 10 days from receipt of the letter to get a deal done. That is the end of July. No deal, no more title.
Artie Pellulo, president of Banner Promotions, told Paste BN Sports on Thursday that it's important for Andrade to keep his title because it's the only thing right now that gives him cache in the boxing world.
"He needs the title," Pellulo said. "He's not to the point of his career where the title doesn't mean anything. If he takes the Charlo fight and it leads to other fights, in time he doesn't need the title after defending it three or four times. But they made some bad decisions.
"He hasn't fought in 13 months, he turned down the Charlo fight, which was really ridiculous, and he put himself in a bad way. Showtime and HBO were bidding for him, and he put himself in a position where nobody cares. . . . At the end of the day, he turned down $550,000, which is bizarre."
Pellulo understands the pressure he faces to get Andrade a fight as quickly as possible "and make a presentation to the WBO for Demetrius to fight sometime in September. We're talking to Mundine. I also have John Thompson, the 2015 Boxcino champion, who's No. 5 in the WBO (rankings)."
The Mundine fight is still on the table, Pellulo said, after the Australian's handlers balked at what they alleged was a three-fight option insisted upon by Andrade's side.
"First of all, it wasn't three options," Pellulo said. "It was a rematch clause and one other fight. But the bottom line is, Mundine is not fighting anybody in America because nobody needs Mundine, unless they get the options. That's just how the business works. To say you're not going to fight without the options, then you're not going to fight. (Al) Haymon wanted five options, (Bob) Arum wanted four. We wanted two fight options, one of them to be a rematch.
"Who would want to get on a plane, fly 26 hours to Australia, put on a fight there, take less money because we need to take a fight, and not have a rematch clause?"
Pellulo said he and DeGuardia, and Andrade and his team, are finally all on the same page. "The kid realized he made a mistake," Pellulo said. "We wasted a year. We don't want him to lose his title."
Andrade remained hopeful that Mundine (46-7, 27 KOs) would accept the challenge and sign before July 31.
"I think Australian fans would love to see their two-time world champion fighting the current world champion in his home country," the southpaw said. "I want this fight to happen. I don't care about a rematch clause. The fact is, if Mundine beats me, he deserves to go fight whoever he wants. I've told my promoters to get rid of the rematch option and make this fight happen.
"I've made some mistakes in the past - God knows everyone does - but I'm doing everything I can to get back in the ring and give fans what they want. They've been great to me and they deserve to see fights they really want.
"Hopefully, they'll soon get to enjoy watching a great fight between me and Mundine."
And they might even get to see a belt holder in action.