One part of what we’ll see next for Demetrius Andrade seems settled, as Andrade indicated in a Tweet this weekend that he’ll defend his WBO middleweight title this summer, and sent respect to Liam Williams after their Saturday bout:
Congrats @Liamwilliamsko & @dominicingle on a great fight and for showing how tough u are, Liam u will be world champ in the future! Nothing but respect!! Thanks to the fans who watched and support boxing. Looking forward to defending my @WorldBoxingOrg in the summer. #ATean
— Demetrius Andrade (@BooBooAndrade) April 18, 2021
There has been some thought that Andrade (30-0, 18 KO) could move up to super middleweight, but as mentioned before, while he could get an order for a title shot from the WBO for doing so, it wouldn’t come until next year. Billy Joe Saunders currently has that belt and is facing WBC/WBA titlist Canelo Alvarez on May 8. If Canelo wins, his goal will be to fight Caleb Plant, the IBF titlist, in the fall. If Saunders wins, you would expect an immediate rematch with Canelo, or for Saunders-Plant to then become the goal.
Either way, Andrade’s not getting a title shot at 168 next, so staying at 160 with the belt seems the wisest move.
As for an opponent, that’s not clear. The best and easiest option might be Jaime Munguia, the No. 1 ranked contender by the WBO. But Munguia is set to fight June 19 against an opponent TBA, and honestly, Andrade-Munguia has never really been brought up by either side.
It’s not going to be Jermall Charlo, who fights June 19 against Juan Macias Montiel, and it’s probably not going to be Gennadiy Golovkin, who might fight Ryota Murata in a December unification and has shown no interest in Andrade, really. In theory, that would also be an easy fight to make (both are with DAZN), but it doesn’t seem in the mix.
The top-ranked contenders after Munguia and the just-beaten Williams are Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, Esquiva Falcao, Danny Dignum (who went to a draw with Andrey Sirotkin on the weekend), Kanat Islam, David Papot, Dennis Radovan, Denzel Bentley, and Patrice Volny.