A mandatory date with Janibek Alimkhanuly was the final straw for Demetrius Andrade.
The former Olympian had spent essentially his entire championship career knocking off mandatories and received little to no credit for doing so. Alimkhanuly, at the time, wasn’t a name and brought little to the table.
So, instead of taking him on, Andrade decided to vacate his WBO middleweight title and move up in weight. After getting a warmup fight against Demond Nicholson, Andrade, for the first time as a pro, was pushed into a big fight.
David Benavidez needed a dance partner and a worthy name to face. The 26-year-old was looking to build momentum following his win over Caleb Plant and Andrade desperately wanted to join the rest of the 2023 big fight schedule. In short, they needed each other.
Officially, the two got it on last month at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Like most, Gabe Rosado was interested in seeing how things were going to play out. Benavidez’s offensive output is unforgiving and relentless but Andrade has barely lost rounds, let alone an actual fight.
Rosado couldn’t pick a winner so he sauntered to his television set and tuned in. The first two rounds were scripted perfectly for Andrade. He easily outboxed the bigger more aggressive man and essentially did what he wanted. But, once Benavidez connected with a monster right hand in the fourth, everything changed.
It was one-way traffic for two additional rounds, forcing the corner of Andrade to call things off. As the former two-division champ remained on his stool, Rosado was disgusted by what he saw. Although he always respected Andrade’s skill and abilities, he now believes that he doesn’t have the cojones needed to excel at the elite level.
“Andrade has no heart,” wrote Rosado on his social media account. “Benavidez is a beast.”