Photo by Naoki Fukuda

WBO junior middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade will be paying close attention to the upcoming Vanes Martirosyan-Jermell Charlo bout on March 28. Andrade (21-0, 14 knockouts) defeated Martirosyan to win the vacant title and almost had a fight with Charlo lined up for December of last year and again early this year.

“If Martirosyan wins, it looks great for me,” Andrade says. “If Charlo wins, it looks great for us to market the fight when the time comes.”

While the undefeated 27-year-old from Providence, Rhode Island patiently waits to make his second title defense, Andrade is calling out the biggest names in the sport including Erislandy Lara and Canelo Alvarez. Andrade remains confident that he is the superior fighter and hopes the business of boxing doesn’t get in the way of him proving it to the world.

RingTV.com sat down with Andrade for a no-holds-barred interview in which he sizes up his competition and reflects on the state of his career.

Vladimir Lik – Demetrius, are there any talks with an opponent for you right now?

Demetrius Andrade – There’s really nothing up on the horizon right now. I’ve been trying to get a fan favorite and friendly fight like Lara and Canelo.

VL – Do you really believe a fight with Lara would be fan-friendly?

DA – I would make it fan-friendly because I’m an exciting fighter. I know how to cut the ring off and make him fight. I have the ability to do it all. I believe I can cut him down, knock him down, whoop his ass and beat him up.

VL – Did you see Lara’s last fight against Ishe Smith?

DA – Yes. It was a horrible performance. [Lara] ran around a guy who was right there for him. Ishe Smith is tailor made for Lara and he was so slow. Ishe is not a great fighter and doesn’t have a great chin. I feel Lara should have stopped him. There’s ways you could stop someone besides knocking them out.

VL – You have talked a lot about Canelo too. What did you make of Lara vs. Canelo?

DA – I didn’t watch the whole fight. I walked into my dad’s room because he had the fight on. I literally watched two rounds of it and I already knew basically this is how the whole fight will go. I saw Lara potshot him, run around and throw the one-two and then, of course, Canelo is just slow enough for Lara. Canelo doesn’t have good footwork to come back and shoot a quick counter shot.

VL – What do you think you would do differently against Lara that no one else has done?

DA – Look at how Alfredo Angulo fought Lara. Angulo knocked him down twice and was on his way to winning the fight, I believe, if he didn’t get jammed in the eye. Not to take any credit away from Angulo but the reason why he was able to catch Lara and do the things he did was because I was Angulo’s sparring partner the whole entire time.

VL – Really? How did that come about?

DA – There was a time when my dad and I parted ways, so I was in Virgil hunter’s training facility. Virgil asked me to spar with Angulo for the Lara fight and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it because Angulo’s in my weight class and I want to fight the dude, not spar with him. I didn’t know he was going to take on another 154-pound fighter. If I knew that, I probably wouldn’t have done it. He said he would throw us some tickets and some money and I’m already here and I don’t have anything lined up and I knew I probably will never end up fighting Angulo, so I got the boy ready. And due to me, he was ready to keep pup with “Lora” or “Lara” whatever his name is. Angulo put him down twice. Now If I can help that person do those things, let’s be sure I will put my hands on Lara and I will stop him. Just look at the comparisons between me and Lara. Grady Brewer rocked him and I dominated Brewer. Vanes Martirosyan gave him a hard time for first half of the fight. Me, from the opening bell, I had Vanes on the run.

VL – You were knocked down by Martirosyan early on. That didn’t seem to stop you.

DA – Not at all. I was getting ready to throw a solid left hand that was getting ready to put him out for the night and he followed through with a left jab. The momentum of me ready to knock him out caused it but I got back up and handled my business. Bob Arum and Top Rank tried to screw me that night.

VL – How did Top Rank try to screw you?

DA- Let’s be honest. Was that a split decision? I don’t think he won any rounds. I threw more punches. I landed my jab all the time. It was my first time fighting for the belt so I was just being cautious. I was being smart. I didn’t want to be sloppy. I had to win this fight and title. For my next fight with Brian Rose, I came in I got it done. Rose is a good fighter with tight defense, so all night, I was picking the locks then boom. I said it’s time to turn the notch and pull the plug and I stopped him.

VL – You mentioned to me earlier you and your father parted ways for a time. What happened?

DA – We were just bumping heads too much. We didn’t understand the differences between father and son and business. It happens and it’s over with. We are good now. We put our differences aside. We understand we can argue and, minutes later, it’s just Dad. My dad sacrificed a lot for me. He deserves a lot of credit. This is our journey.

VL – It’s almost one year since your last fight. How does that make you feel?

DA – It’s a shame.

VL – There was almost a fight with Jermell Charlo. Tell me why that fight didn’t happen.

DA – My promoter called me in November right around Thanksgiving time and told me there might be an opportunity to fight Charlo on December 13. I was like, “You guys telling me this now? It’s November 13 and now I have to hurry to get everything going.” I am professional. I said let’s push it back to January or February. Honestly, I felt disrespected because I’m going to be the first fight of the night while Keith Thurman is the co-feature. I understand he’s with Showtime and Al Haymon but he fought a 40-year-old guy [Leonard Bundu] no one even knew of. How you put him as co-feature over Demetrius Andrade? I was fighting an undefeated guy and I wasn’t even seeing my minimum.

VL – Let’s clear some of this up. How much were you offered to fight Charlo? Was it $250,000 or $500,000?

DA – There are a lot of lies going on about that. It was about $300,000 to my side, which, you understand, that’s not how much I would have taken home. Now, $500,000 I would have taken for that short notice. Not for $300k or $200k. I just got that amount for fighting Brian Rose. It’s time for my money to go each time I step inside the ring. Plus, this is my second defense and I don’t even get co-feature? That fight could be a main event anywhere as long as it’s at neutral and fair place because Charlo got one of the most powerful guys on his side and I don’t. I need to protect myself.

VL – Who is the A-side between you and Charlo?

DA – It should be me. It’s funny because they came at me looking for an opponent for him. At the end of day, I’m greater than him and I still want to prove it.

VL – So how come that fight didn’t get made now?

DA – I got the Showtime contract in January to fight him because I never saw it November. It was sent to me on January 14 to fight him in March or April. Then they added May. Then he goes and signs to fight Vanes. It’s a bad move because Vanes is a dangerous guy who can beat him. You claim you’re the best, then you go and fight Vanes and Vanes beats you, I won’t be interested to fight him because he lost to the guy I beat already. He could have fought me, a two-time Olympian and – let’s face it – it’s a 50/50 fight. Anyone can win.

VL – You said Showtime sent you the contract. Are you signed to any network now?

DA – No, I am not with anyone. HBO has my last refusal. I’m willing to work with any network as long as they are willing to work with me. I just don’t think HBO wants to align Canelo with anyone good because it’s a risk. Roc Nation just signed [RING middleweight champion Miguel] Cotto and they don’t want to lose their investment. It’s just frustrating. Canelo, you guys are claiming you are the best and you want to fight the best. Well, I feel I’m the best. I have the belt. If I’m not a problem, then why aren’t you interested in fighting me? Is it because you feel you can lose? If you feel you can beat me, then come get this belt, then you go on to be a happy champion and get all the recognition.

VL – What is your current situation with your promoters?

DA – I am still with Banner Promotions and Star Boxing. Everything happens for a reason. I don’t want to downplay my promoters. These guys are here for a reason. This is what I settled for because who knew? Who knew what Al [Haymon] was going to become? Who knew that Golden Boy would be where they are? Artie [Pelullo] and Joe [DeGuardia] paid me a lot of money. They paid me damn near $500,000 to sign with them before I ever stepped in the ring. Who else sees that? I don’t brag about that because I should be further along in my career.

VL – Why do you feel you are not further along?

DA – I don’t know. There are levels in boxing like there are in everything else. There’s middle school, high school, college, then NBA.

VL – So what level are you in? College?

DA – Not even. I feel like I am in high school/borderline passing. I feel like I need one more credit to pass. That’s honestly how I’m feeling now. I don’t understand why am not in the position like these other guys are. I beat Keith Thurman twice to go to the Olympics. I actually fought him three times. He won the first time and then I whooped his butt twice in a row to go to the Olympics. I beat Danny Jacobs, Austin Trout and Lara. I fought Lara when I was 16 in Venezuela. These guys everyone is saying are the best, I beat them all. Now where’s my chance?

VL – In your opinion, what do you need to do to move forward and get the fights you want?

DA – My promoters need to do a better job. Artie and Joe, they had their era. Everyone had their era. Don King had his era. I just feel they need to do a better job with me. They did a good job with Chris Algieri. He beat [Ruslan] Provodikov and they got him an opportunity to fight for a $1,000,000. They are getting their B-guys top fights and I’m the one A-guy they have – I can’t get fights. Why am I not on the [Lucas] Matthysse-Provodnikov [card]?

VL – Why do you think your promoters are finding it difficult?

DA – I don’t know. Either the other promoters don’t want to do business with them or no one at 154 wants to fight. At this point, line up anybody. Even Cotto. Austin Trout beat him and [Trout]’s not even a great fighter.

VL – But is Cotto a different fighter with Freddie Roach, right?

DA – I don’t think so. What had Freddie done with Cotto? He fought Delvin Rodrguez; so what? If he feels Freddie Roach did something, he should say that he wants to fight me. Let’s make that fight happen.

VL – OK, in your perfect world, describe where you would like to see your career go next.

DA – I didn’t want to include these twin Charlo kids but since they ran their mouths, I want to fight them both. [Jermell] and his brother, Jermall. Then they can get their big brother, “Lora” or “Lara” or whatever his girly name is. Then bring on Canelo and then a solid three years would have gone by and then I want to fight Gennady Golovkin on pay-per-view.

VL – That sounds like a great plan. How will you stay motivated until then?

DA – I understand there’s a big picture. I have three daughters. Their names are Autumn, Summer and Winter. I also own a bar back home in Rhode Island. I’m OK even if I don’t fight. I have a good manager who helps me make good decisions. I fight for the love of the sport, like when I first I saw Roy Jones fight. I followed his career. Marvin Hagler lived just one hour away from me. I used to go his gym. That’s my playground. When I found out they made a good living, I decided to do it.

VL – And where does the nickname “Boo Boo” come from?

DA – (laughs) When I was a kid, I used to jump around everywhere and, of course, like all kids, I fell down and hurt myself. Now, I’m the one who gives out the Boo Boos.