Miguel Cotto is nearing completion for a deal to be in one of the biggest fights of the year against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez this fall, but junior middleweight Demetrius Andrade is not buying the hype. Cotto's appear was near death before he linked up with trainer Freddie Roach and reeled off three straight knockout or stoppage wins.
Consider Andrade, who is undefeated, unimpressed.
"Not to disrespect Cotto and not to disrespect Freddie Roach, but a lot of people are saying 'Oh Freddie Roach got Cotto back, oh Cotto is looking like the old Cotto.' Who did Cotto just finish fighting? Delvin Rodriguez who he knocked out in the first few rounds that [Erislandy] Lara couldn't do," Andrade said.
"He fought Sergio Martinez who had thirty leg injuries and forty right leg injuries that could barely stand to walk and box a little bit. Not to take Martinez's boxing abilities away but he was done for. Cotto beat Delvin Rodriguez and Martinez and all of a sudden Cotto's back. Who did he really fight? The hype that he's getting for fighting three bums back to back, does that make him great again?"
Andrade, 21-0-0 with 14 KOs is considered one of boxing's premier young talents, but he has not been inside the ring since June 2014 when he knocked out Brian Rose. At 6'1, Andrade is reminiscent of Paul Williams, a lanky fighter who was able to shift between welterweight and junior middleweight, but was often avoided because of the challenges his athleticism and style posed.
Andrade has sought out big challenges by calling out the likes of Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr., but his relative anonymity has not gotten him anywhere close, and his inactivity has not helped. The recent criticism of Cotto may be an effort to insert himself into the conversation for boxing's casual fans.
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