It appears Demetrius Andrade is already looking past Liam Williams.
Their middleweight encounter, screened exclusively worldwide by DAZN on April 17th, will finally see the long-time rivals swap social media barbs for punches as they battle for Andrade’s WBO title at 160lbs. Despite the severity of the threat posed by the Welshman, Andrade has already made it clear that a move to super-middleweight is at the forefront of his future plans.
With the middleweight realm currently presenting future high-profile opportunities against the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Jermall Charlo, the appeal of a lucrative Canelo Alvarez shot at 168lbs is a motivating factor for all fighters within touching distance of super-middleweight. On this week’s Ak and Barak Show, Ak said he believed the Rhode Island fighter should stay where he is.
“There’s still some unfinished business at 160lbs,” opined Ak. “There’s still that GGG fight. You still have Jermall Charlo at 160. There’s so much unfinished business at 160 and I don’t think he should leave that behind unless there are some guaranteed fights at 168.”
With Andrade’s immediate roadmap dominated by the imminent Williams fight, Barak insists that Andrade should be focused on that before declaring his intentions to campaign in another weight category.
“How many fighters have we seen overlook the guy that’s right in front of him?” asked Barak. “Andy Ruiz was that guy where we were looking over his head and he became the first Mexican heavyweight champion of the world.
“Liam Williams is not somebody you can actually overlook. We shouldn’t be overlooking him. I think of Amir Khan and how he was looking for that Floyd [Mayweather] fight and he messed up an opportunity to fight a guy like Timothy Bradley and then he saying ‘I’ve got to move up for my signature fight and go up to 155lbs and fight Canelo Alvarez,’ which is insane.”
The Ak and Barak Show, exclusive to DAZN and Sirius XM Fight Nation, tackles all of boxing's biggest talking points.