By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Demetrius Andrade of the U.S. will be taking on Jack Culcay of Ecuador for the WBA Super Welterweight Championship this Saturday, March 11th in Culcay’s adopted homeland of Germany. Culcay is the former European champ and has been the WBA interim champion since May of 2015. These two were originally supposed to meet last October, but the bout fell through. Culcay’s last bout was in April of last year when he beat Jean Carlos Prada by stoppage after the ninth round. Andrade last fought in June when he beat Willie Nelson by a 12th-round TKO. This bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports 2.
The 29-year-old Andrade of Providence, Rhode Island enters the ring with a perfect record of 23-0 along with 16 Kos. He’s a southpaw who stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 73.5-inch reach. He’s got quite a bit of talent and has stepped up the class of opposition recently. His biggest wins have been against Nelson and Vanes Martirosyan by split decision in 2013 by split decision to win the vacant WBO Super Welterweight Title.
Andrade then defended the belt against Brian Rose by seventh-round stoppage the next year, but gave up the title a few months later when he wouldn’t take on mandatory challenger Jermell Charlo. Andrade then sat out several few months with promotional problems. Andrade turned pro back in 2008 and has fought 107 rounds since then and also has wins over veterans Grady Brewer, Freddy Hernandez and Saul Duran.
He’s got good boxing skills, but isn’t the most exciting fighter out there even though he’s got better than average power. His current knockout ratio stands at 70 per cent. This will just be Andrade’s third outing since meeting Martirosyan in November of 2013 and he needs to be more active if he wants to make a name for himself on the world boxing scene. Andrade is a former 2008 U.S. Olympian and enjoyed an excellent amateur career.
The 31-year-old Culcay also fought in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China where he competed for Germany. In fact, he lost to Andrade at in the quarterfinals of the 2007 World Championships. He enters Saturday’s fight with an impressive record of22-1 with 11 Kos. He’s fought 164 rounds since turning pro in 2009 and has average power with a current knockout percentage of 48 per cent.
Culcay is quite a bit smaller than Andrade at just over 5-feet-7-inches tall with an unlisted reach. This gives Andrade about a 5.5-inch height advantage. Even though Culcay has been European and WBA interim world champion, the average boxing fans isn’t going to recognize any of his opponents so he’s definitely taking a jump up in class by meeting Andrade. His lone loss was to Guido Nicolas Pitto by 12-round split decision in April of 2013.
Prediction…
This may be Andrade’s first bout outside of America, but he has all the other advantages here. He’s faced better opposition, is younger and bigger and has beaten Culcay in the amateurs. Culcay is more of a brawler and has a lot of heart and determination. He’ll also have the home crowd behind him. However, look for Andrade to take the belt by decision or late stoppage.
