In this video interview with Fight Hub TV, Demetrius Andrade talks a little about tomorrow’s middleweight title fight against Walter Kautondokwa, when he was originally supposed to be fighting Billy Joe Saunders. Check out what he had to say...
Andrade on what he knows about tomorrow’s opponent, Walter Kautondokwa:
“You know, it’s funny. I mean he’s black, you know what I’m saying. From Africa, of course. But no, all jokes aside, he’s one of the top guys. For him to be in this position he was a top 5 guy, and I think he was like #2, so what it boils down to is that he would’ve became a mandatory anyway. So I would’ve had to fight him anyway because I would’ve beat Billy Joe Saunders and that would’ve been the guy next...”
On if he’s disappointed that he’s not fighting Billy Joe Saunders:
“I’m here. I’m fighting. I’m active. I’m fighting for the WBO championship title of the world. What can I say?! I’m here to fight, and it’s whoever! And it was Billy Joe, I signed up, ‘Here I am!’, now it’s Walter, ‘Here I am!’ The show must go on. That’s what happens when you do drugs. That’s what happens when you a cheat.”
On if he was surprised when he first heard of Saunders’ failed drug test:
“You know, we had suspicious feelings of his previous fights, how he would look like fuckin’ 195lbs, then the next thing we know he’s at 160. So therefore if you gonna fight Demetrius Andrade, you gonna know it’s gonna be equal and fair playing ground when you step into that ring. And we also made history and let people know that VADA is the gold standard of boxing and we not doing the elementary drug testing, we doing the professional drug testing.”
On if he thinks Saunders’ failed test will haunt him indefinitely or if he can bounce back:
“I mean, Canelo did it. But we don’t know what six months could do. At the end of the day you can be on the drugs for three months, get off it and [still] get the benefits of it for six months...But can Billy Joe fight? Yeah, he can fight! He’s slick, you know what I’m saying? Does the drug help him be in better shape, you know, more intake, faster? Yeah, that does help. So you can’t really take away the boxing skills because the the drugs don’t give you skills, it just increases power, speed, endurance, stuff like that. So he still is a good, slick fighter. He cleans up, maybe we can make it happen.”
On big potential fights available should he grab this middleweight world title:
“Yeah, definitely. You know, after I take this belt home the likes of Canelo, GGG, the winner of the Danny Jacobs-Derevyanchenko — both of them, they’re still great fighters! Somebody just has to lose, that’s just how the sport goes, or you get a draw. Everybody I just mentioned, elite guys that need to fight each other and at the end of the day that’s what I’m looking to do. And with DAZN, Matchroom, Eddie Hearn, myself — what everybody’s trying to do s make the best fights and put the best fighters together and I’m here to say ‘I’ [raises finger].”