WBO Middleweight Challenge
Last night, on DAZN at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden, Demetrius Andrade (27-0, 17 Kos) successfully defended his WBO Middleweight Title against fringe contender Artur Akavov (19-3, 8 Kos).
This bout was a glorified sparring session in my eyes. There are levels to this boxing sh*t and as good as a boxer Akavov was on that night he was levels below Andrade. Real Talk! Andrade controlled every round from start to finish. Andrade was sharp and busy with his hands but Artur was in plain survivor mode and only showed signs of life sporadically. He actually connected with some good shots in the ninth round but other than that Akavov wasn’t competitive enough.
Demetrius was on way to a unanimous decision by the 12th round until the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight with less than 30 seconds left in the round after Akavov got hit with three heavy shots in a row that made him stumble back.
That being said, I personally think that the stoppage was unjustified. Artur had no chance of winning this bout but definitely deserved the right go out on his shield like a warrior should.
With this win Demetrius secured his fist defence of his WBO Middleweight Title and banked in some much-needed rounds.
Controversy aside, Demetrius is still a major player in the Middleweight Division; however, it’s time to step up to some better competition. Who’s next?
Blaze