Demetrius Andrade will defend the WBO Middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 29th in Andrade’s hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“It’s done. It’s his homecoming,” said Andrade’s promoter Eddie Hearn, who is co-promoting the middleweight world title unification fight between Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs, on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. “Hopefully, we can fill up the Dunkin Donuts Center and make it a big deal, and he can start getting some credibility and profile and say, ‘I’m not just a B-side. I’m the link to the undisputed title.'”
“After Saturday night, there will be one guy with three of the belts, and I got the fourth,” Andrade told ESPN. “Both guys (Alvarez and Jacobs) have been very vocal about wanting to unify after this fight, so let’s make it happen. We all feel that we are the best in the division, and there is only one way to find that out. I wish both Canelo and Danny the best on Saturday night, but they better know I’m there watching with a purpose.”
“If Canelo wins, he has to fight Demetrius if he wants to be undisputed world champion,” Hearn said. “The bigger fight commercially for DAZN is, obviously, a third fight with Golovkin, but [Alvarez] never got the chance to be undisputed. Now there’s no reason we can’t have an undisputed middleweight world champion. So that’s what we will be pushing for.
“I said to [Andrade], ‘You are in the most golden position ever. You are the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for the undisputed title. So just keep winning.’ Sulecki will give him a chance to look good, in my opinion. He needs a fighter that comes to fight.”
“Sulecki has proven his worth,” Hearn said. “He had a great fight with Jacobs and just beat Rosado in a wonderful fight.”
“Sulecki is one of the top guys in the division, and his only loss is to Danny, in a fight where he gave Danny problems. You can’t overlook this guy,” Andrade said. “He has earned this shot, and I am expecting him to bring it. That being said, I am the best 160-pounder in the sport, and I plan on showing every single aspect of that come June 29th. This is my time.”
“Originally, we were going to do it in early June, and when he finished the fight [with Rosado], he said he had a hand problem and wasn’t sure if he’d be ready for June,” Hearn said. “Then they assessed it and said he would be ready for the middle of June. Obviously, now the fight is at the end of June, so no problem.”
