Former two division world champ Demetrius Andrade will return after a 2 1/2 year layoff Friday night in Connecticut having to overcome his first loss in the ring and personal loss outside of it.
Former middleweight and junior middleweight world champion Demetrius Andrade will make his long-awaited return to the ring after a 2½-year layoff when he headlines a CES Boxing card Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. And, although lengthy layoffs are common in the sport, Andrade has a lot to overcome off a loss in the ring last time out and personal loss outside of the ring, well.
The 38 year old Andrade (32-1, 19 KOs) from Providence, Rhode Island, will face Brazil's Douglas Ataide (20-5-1, 11 KOs) a 35 year old vet himself in a scheduled 10-round super middleweight bout. The fight will stream live on DAZN,
Friday night marks Andrade's first appearance since suffering the only defeat of his professional career, a sixth-round beatdown that resulted in a knockout loss to David Benavidez for the WBC interim super middleweight title in November 2023.
Reflecting on that loss recently, Andrade revealed he entered the Benavidez fight while dealing with significant personal turmoil. His mother had become terminally ill, and his younger brother had been shot and left paralyzed.
Andrade revealed that very few people outside his inner circle were aware of what he was facing or how heavily it affected him, adding that those circumstances ultimately led him to seek a new start with a different trainer.
“I was literally going from one hospital floor to another, seeing my mother in a coma and then going upstairs to see my little brother, while trying to prepare for the biggest fight of my career,” Andrade said about the anguish. “That’s something no one can prepare you for.”
He said because of it he made alternative training plans so that his father and trainer, Paul Andrade, could remain with his mother and brother.
“My father has always been my head trainer,” Andrade said. “But because of what was going on with my mom and my brother, he stayed behind and I worked with Andre Rozier, who stepped in and did a great job helping me prepare. We did the best that we could under the circumstances.”
He said he did not pull out of the fight because he did not know if he would get another opportunity for a fight of that magnitude and the payday that went with it.
“I thought I boxed well early,” Andrade said. “I was landing clean shots, especially to the body, while using my movement and controlling the pace. I was using a lot of energy, but I felt good.”
But the bigger Benavidez, now a unified titleholder at cruiserweight, brushed Andrade’s punches aside and began to take it to him.
“I’m not taking anything away from him; he won the fight,” Andrade said. “But there was a huge difference between the fighter I saw at the weigh-in and the one standing across from me on fight night.”
After his loss and the death of his mother, Andrade said he stepped away from boxing.
“I needed some time away to deal with everything,” he said. “I focused on my mind, body, soul, and my family. Boxing is what I love, but we’re more than just fighters. I wanted to come back earlier, but after taking a year off, there wasn’t any momentum.
"That’s when I started talking with (CES Boxing promoter) Jimmy Burchfield. Jimmy and I have known each other for a long time. I’ve always respected Jimmy and everything he’s done for boxing in New England. He’s one of the hardest-working promoters in the sport. I realized I didn’t want to keep waiting for opportunities anymore. I knew together we could make things happen.
“I want to become a three-division world champion but there’s also unfinished business. There are fights that should have happened years ago that still make sense today — Caleb Plant, the Charlo brothers (Jermell and Jermall), Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia. I’m ready to fight all of them.”
Andrade was the WBO middleweight king from 2018-21 and five successful title defenses.
But that was a long time ago, and the first step will be Friday to see what kind of rust and reflexes Andrade still has in his comeback bout?
