Demetrius Andrade claims that Canelo Alvarez was offered a shocking $40 million to fight him in 2019, and instead of agreeing to a career-high payday, he went and fought Sergey Kovalev for less money.
The 36-year-old Kovalev looked like the shell of his former self, coming off a close call against Anthony Yarde in his previous fight.
Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs) believes Canelo has been ducking him as far back as 2018 when the two held world titles at middleweight. In Andrade’s eyes, Canelo turning down $40 million to fight him is something he can’t understand.
Why Would Canelo Alvarez Turn Down $40M To Fight Demetrius Andrade?
Demetrius Andrade: “Now with DAZN, Matchroom, Eddie Hearn was supposed to deliver the big fights, offered [Jermall] Charlo 7 million dollars to fight me, offered Canelo 40 [million to fight Demetrius Andrade, [which was] $5 million more to fight me,” said Andrade.
“Instead, he [Canelo] went up and fought Kovalev. So instead of that 35 million dollars he was getting, they offered him 40 [million] to fight Demetrius Andrade, and he was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to go fight Kovalev.’
“As you said, at 54 and 160, he wants to unify at 160 after he beat GGG [in 2018]. Do you know what he [Canelo] said? He said, ‘Nah, I’m not fighting Andrade. I’m going to go fight Kovalev,” said Andrade.
Goodness knows why Canelo would turn down $40M to fight the talented former two-division world champion and 2008 U.S Olympian Andrade. Was it fear?
You can’t say that the boxing world was pushing for Canelo to fight the shell of the 36-year-old past his prime Kovalev back in 2019, as the Russian fighter had already been twice beaten by Andre Ward and knocked out by Eleider Alvarez. There was no demand for Canelo to go up to 175 to fight Kovalev.
The only fight that made sense for Canelo at light heavyweight at the time was for him to take on IBF/WBC champion Artur Beterbiev, the uncrowned king of the division.
But for some reason, Canelo chose not to fight him and instead went after the old past his prime lion Kovalev.
Was that a cherry-pick for Canelo? It’s hard not to see it that way, right. I mean, you choose not to fight the unbeaten two-belt 175-lb champion Beterbiev and instead fight Kovalev, who had beaten two out of his last six fights at the time.
Alvarez Had 3 Bad Experiences
One can argue that Canelo rejecting a fight against ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade only makes sense under the view of him feeling it’s a bad style match-up for him. You have to realize that Canelo has had three bad experiences in his career against these talents:
Floyd Mayweather Jr
Austin Trout
Erislandy Lara
After Canelo’s questionable win over Lara in 2014, he’s arguably veered away from fighting certain guys towards more stationary, predictable fighters with arguably less athleticism.
Canelo Alvarez: “You want payday, payday, I know that,” said Canelo to Andrade after he invaded his post-fight press conference last Saturday following his win over Saunders.”You haven’t fought nobody.”
Demetrius Andrade: “Payday, payday, right? Yo, don’t you get that little payday when he gets in the ring to fight. They offered him [Canelo] 40 to fight Demetrius Andrade. He said, ‘Nah, I’m going to fight Kovalev.’
“When am I going to get my big break? How come I’m not getting it, and what do I need to get it? I went up to [Jermall] Charlo’s press conference twice, and I went up to GGG in the ring. I wasn’t even allowed to be in the ring.
“And I slid under the ropes, man. That’s how much of a G I am. Yo, they tried to stop me from going in the ring, and I’m like, ‘Boom,’ have my people hit the corners,” said Andrade.
As you can see, Demetrious has had a tough time trying to get Canelo, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo to fight him. Suppose it’s true that Canelo turned down $40 million to fight Andrade.
That says a lot about his talent. Andrade is clearly the boogeyman of the 160 and 168-lb division for him to be avoided the way he is.
