By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBO Middleweight Champion Demetrius Andrade of Providence, Rhode Island takes on Maciej Sulecki of Poland in Andrade’s hometown this Saturday, June 29th. 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 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. Sulecki last fought in March when he beat Gabriel Rosado by 10-round unanimous decision in a brawl which saw both boxers dropped twice.
The 31-year-old Andrade was briefly the WBA Super Welterweight Champion in 2017 after beating Jack Culcay by unanimous decision and he’s now the WBO Middleweight Champ. He enters the ring with a perfect record of 27-0 along with 17 Kos. Andrade’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, 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, but didn’t have any noticeable ring rust. Andrade turned pro back in 2008 and has fought 155 rounds since then and also has wins over veterans Grady Brewer, Freddy Hernandez and Saul Duran.
Andrade does possess some fine boxing skills but he isn’t exactly the most exciting fighter out there even though he’s got better than average power. His current knockout ratio stands at 63 per cent but he’s gone the distance in three of his last four fights. This will just be Andrade’s eighth 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 30-year-old Sulecki hails from Warsaw and he’s entering the contest with an impressive record of 28-1 with 11 Kos to his name. He’s fought 179 rounds since his debut in 2010 and is a former Polish Middleweight and Super Middleweight Champion. He doesn’t have much in the way of power though with just 11 Kos and his current knockout ratio is just 38 per cent. He’s got some good skills however along with a relatively solid chin and has fought between junior middleweight and super middleweight as a pro.
Sulecki’s got decent size as he’s 6-feet-1-inch tall, the same as Andrade, but his 68-inch reach means he gives up 5.5 inches in reach to the champion. Sulecki’s most memorable bout was his 12-round unanimous decision defeat to former world champion Daniel Jacobs in April of 2018. Other than that he’s faced and beaten some solid opponents such as Jack Culcay, Hugo Centeno Jr., Derrick Findley, Darryl Cunningham and Grzegorz Proksa. Sulecki owns a pretty solid chin but was dropped in the 12th and final round by Jacobs and twice by Rosado.
Prediction…
Sulecki has the skills to hang in for 12 rounds against the likes of Andrade but he doesn’t really have the tools to beat him. I expect Andrade to hang onto his belt against the Polish challenger.
