Demetrius Andrade vs Billy Joe Saunders
Posted: 22 Jan 2019, 22:05
Recently ordered by the WBO. Who wins and how?
• 30th August 2018 - Saunders failed a VADA drug test
• 2nd November 2018 - Saunders suspended for six months by the WBO
• 22nd December 2018 - Saunders stops Charles Adamu (less than four months after failed test & less than two months after the announcement of the ban)
• 22nd January 2019 - The WBO orders Demetrius Andrade to defend his world title against Demetrius Andrade (less than five months after failed test & less than three months after the announcement of the ban)
It seems that the duration of a suspension doesn’t really mean much nowadays, especially if a fighter agrees to behave like any other normal person would. Perhaps the WBO decided to do this to avoid a potential lawsuit rather than due to the Brit's good behaviour?
To be perfectly honest, I always believed that Billy Joe Saunders shouldn’t have been suspended in the first place, because UKAD, USADA & the BBBofC wouldn’t have banned Billy Joe Saunders (based on WADA's very own rules). And the MSAC wouldn’t have prevented the Saunders-Andrade bout if they applied their own rules consistently, by adhering to the WADA code.
Anyway, Andrade clearly didn't fancy this fight early last year and I supplied a video of him to this forum saying he's not ready to face the Brit yet.
Andrade’s amateur pedigree cannot be questioned, but his lack of activity and relatively poor calibre of opposition in the pro ranks does make me wonder whether he’s not quite as good as advertised by the proverbial hype train, because he has also previously rejected opportunities to engage in marquee bouts in the past… And that’s solely on him, rather than being “ducked”.
And this situation hasn’t changed, despite Andrade recently capturing the vacant WBO world title by defeating Walter Kautondokwa and then making a first successful defence against Artur Akavov, both of whom are unheralded and unrated opponents.
When I watch various YouTube videos of Andrade’s American peers, they all claim they’re expecting Saunders to be comprehensively out-boxed by Demtetrius. We also know that many people from this forum considered the Brit as being the underdog against the likes of Eubank Jr, Lee, Khurtsidze, Monroe Jr and Lemieux.
So my “head” tells me to expect Andrade to score a close (perhaps even moderately controversial) decision victory over Saunders on US shores, perhaps due to the judges favouring the hometown fighter.
My “heart” is almost telling me the same thing, because Billy Joe has a proven track-record of raising his game according to the calibre of opposition he’s faced. So Saunders could “earn” a victory on the scorecards, but whether he’ll be given it or not is an entirely different subject matter.
I believe that Billy Joe is a physically big, though not particularly tall, 160lb-er who has faced better opposition in the pro ranks than Demetrius Andrade has. And I feel that the Brit might have a little too much for the American (in terms of experience, skill, size and grit).
It’s a good 50-50 type fight on paper, but I’m expecting Andrade to gain a controversial hometown decision victory, with the American’s supporters endorsing the outcome by citing the age-old proverbial “you have to take the belt from the champion” myth.
There’s a lot of money riding on the outcome of this fight, because the winner will be in line to face the victor between Canelo and Jacobs. So the most lucrative and politically preferable result for DAZN (and the WBO,) would be a victory for their own fighter, Demetrius Andrade.
If Saunders wins, in order for Canelo (or Jacobs) to unify the 160lbs belts, this opens the door for a potential ESPN pay-per-view, because Billy Joe’s promoter (Queensberry) has an agreement in place with Top Rank to share/provide boxing content with ESPN. Also, Eric Gomez and Oscar De La Hoya (GBP) have previously stated that they don’t want Canelo to face Saunders. And I doubt DAZN would allow their contracted fighter (Alvarez) to compete on a rival network.
If Demetrius wins, there are no obstacles for a potential title unification bout between Andrade and the eventual victor of Canelo and Jacobs, which would be televised by DAZN.
So the WBO may miss out on huge Canelo-sized sanctioning fees if the Brit somehow wins! Could that influence the outcome, since it's in the WBO's own best interests for the American to emerge victorous?
If you’re going to score the fight live via DAZN, I’d advise you to turn the volume down on your device to avoid being unduly influenced by the inevitably biased American commentary team.
That’s a fữckḯng long post, I know – I’m sorry! But I had a lot to say on this subject matter!
That's how I see it.