In February, Frank Warren secured the rights to Zach Parker’s interim WBO title fight against Demetrius Andrade with an offer of $1,834,050, narrowly beating Eddie Hearn’s $1,750,000. The initial date ended up falling through, prompting the WBO to reorder it, and Warren once again emerged victorious, this time with an uncontested bid of $305,000. That’s about 16% of the original, for those curious.
The fight is scheduled for November 5.
Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) has managed to make 2022 the worst year of his professional career without ever setting foot in the ring. He gave up his middleweight title instead of fighting Janibek Alimkhanuly, and now he’s being paid a pittance to try to become one of Canelo’s challengers, which we’ve already established is not a guarantee of fighting him at any point.
Whether or not you consider him an avoided fighter, this is all entirely his fault. Honestly, I feel worse for Parker (22-0, 16 KOs), who has been the top contender since 2020 and missed out on a big payday because Andrade got hurt and faltered instead of seeking an immediate rescheduling.
Top marks, “Boo Boo,” top marks.
