By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBO Middleweight Champion Demetrius Andrade of Providence, Rhode Island takes on Luke Keeler of Dublin, Ireland in Miami, Florida this Thursday, January 30th. The 12 round bout can be seen live in North America on DAZN and fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports. Andrade last fought in June when he beat Maciej Sulecki of Poland via a unanimous decision. Keeler’s last fight took place in August when he beat Luis Arias on points over 10 rounds.
The 31-year-old Andrade won the vacant title in October of 2018 via a unanimous decision over Walter Kautondokwa and then defended it against Artur Akavov by 12th-round stoppage in January, 2019. He then defended it against Sulecki so this will be the third defence of his belt this week. Andrade was also briefly the WBA Super Welterweight Champion in 2017 after beating Jack Culcay by unanimous decision.
Andrade enters the ring with a perfect record of 28-0 along with 17 Kos. He’s a southpaw who stands 6-feet tall with a 73.5-inch reach. He’s got quite a bit of talent and has only slightly stepped up the class of opposition recently. His biggest wins have been against, Culcay, Willie Nelson and Vanes Martirosyan by split decision in 2013 to win the vacant WBO Super Welterweight Title.
Andrade defended the WBO 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 months with promotional problems. He was inactive for a year before winning the vacant title against Kautondokwa.
Andrade is a former 2008 U.S. Olympian and enjoyed an excellent amateur career. He turned pro shortly after the Olympics in 2008 and has fought 167 rounds since then and also has wins over veterans Grady Brewer, Freddy Hernandez and Saul Duran. He possesses some fine boxing skills but isn’t exactly the most exciting fighter out there even though he’s got better than average power. His current knockout ratio stands at 60.7 per cent but he’s gone the distance in four of his last five fights.
Keeler is 32 years old and climbs through the ropes with a mark of 17-2-1 with just 5 Kos. He’s just under 6-feet tall and has an unlisted reach so gives up just a half-inch in height to Andrade. He made his pro debut in 2013 after a decent amateur career and has 107 rounds of experience under his belt since then. He lack power though with a current knockout ratio of only 25 per cent.
His losses came at the hands of Tom Doran by three-round unanimous decision in 2015 in the semifinal of the Prizefighter Middleweight tournament. He was also stopped in the second round by Doran a year later in a battle for the vacant WBC International Middleweight Title. Keeler’s draw was a four-round affair with Adam Jones in February of 2018.
Keeler’s biggest wins have been over the likes of Jason Ball, Lewis Taylor, Conrad Cummings, and Bradley Pryce. He beat Cummings by 10 round unanimous decision in April, 2018 for the vacant WBO European Middleweight Crown and his eight-round points win over Pryce was vacant BUI Celtic Middleweight Belt in November, 2016. He then beat Cummings again last March to defend his European crown.
Prediction…
It’s hard to see how Keeler deserves a title shot and this appears to be a step backward for Andrade. He’s already one of the most least known American champions in boxing today and it’s going to be hard to attract new fans and keep the established ones by fighting opponents like Keeler. This appears to be a bit of a mismatch, at least on paper and an expected win won’t further advance Andrade’s career and popularity.
