Andrade-Quigley to headline Nov. 19 DAZN card featuring four world title bouts

Demetrius Andrade will defend his WBO middleweight title against Jason Quigley in the main event of a DAZN card featuring four world title bouts on Nov. 19 at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, Matchroom Boxing announced on Monday.

Andrade’s bout with Quigley comes as no surprise as it has long been expected. However, DAZN and Matchroom moved it up one day from the original date of Nov. 20 that it was penciled in for in order to avoid conflicting with the high-profile Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter welterweight title fight that headlines a pay-per-view card that night.

The other title bouts are:

• The long overdue fight between unified junior featherweight titlist Murodjon “MJ” Akhmadaliev and mandatory challenger Ronny Rios.

• The rescheduled bout between WBC flyweight titlist Julio Cesar Martinez and interim titleholder McWilliams Arroyo.

• Kali Reis defending the WBA women’s junior welterweight title against Jessica Camara with the vacant WBO belt also on the line.

Andrade (30-0, 18 KOs), 33, a southpaw from Providence, Rhode Island — which is a little less than two hours from Manchester — is coming off a wide unanimous decision over mandatory challenger Liam Williams on April 17. He will make his fifth defense against Quigley (19-1, 14 KOs), 30, of Ireland.

“Jason Quigley, world rated, good amateur pedigree, decent skills, comes to fight, and hats off to him,” Andrade said. “He’s actually willing to step in the ring with me, which you can’t say for any of these other so-called top guys. On Nov. 19 though, I show him that there are levels to this game.”

Andrade has called for fights with other top fighters, including unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and middleweight titleholders Gennadiy Golovkin and Jermall Charlo to no avail.

“Just keep winning, that’s all I can do,” Andrade said. “Go in there, handle my business, do my job, look sensational, come out healthy and then it’s onto the next. If you have a belt at 160 or 168 pounds, let’s go. Put the politics aside, have your people call (Matchroom Boxing promoter) Eddie (Hearn). Let’s get down to business. Charlo, stop running your mouth, making up excuse after excuse. You’re a fighter, let’s fight bro. GGG, where you at? Unify against (Ryota) Murata (in December) and then let’s put the three belts on the line next year.

“Canelo, you going to run up to 175? Cool, I can meet you there, no problem. First things first though, I need to go out on Nov. 19, defend my championship belt, and put on a spectacular performance, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

Quigley is coming off a 10-round majority decision over Shane Mosley Jr. for his third win in a row since a ninth-round knockout loss to Tureano Johnson in July 2019.

“I’ve worked my whole career to get into this position of becoming world champion,” Quigley said. “Demetrius is a great champion but now it’s my time and that world title is coming back to Ireland.”

Akhmadaliev vs. Rios

Akhmadaliev (9-0, 7 KOs), 26, of Uzbekistan, was due to face Rios (33-3, 16 KOs), 31, of Santa Ana, California, on a card in was in the works for Sept. 18 but fell through. The bout has been a long time coming since Matchroom Boxing won the rights to the fight at a purse bid in May.

Akhmadaliev, who trains in Indio, California, will be making his second defense, having made his first by fifth-round knockout of Ryosuke Iwasa on April 3 in Uzbekistan.

Rios, who has won four fights in a row, is getting his second world title shot, having lost a decision to then-WBC titlist Rey Vargas in 2017.

“(Akhmadaliev is) a good fighter and I expect it to be a great fight for everybody to enjoy,” Rios said. “As always, I'm working hard with my coaches Antonio and Joel Diaz, and we'll be prepared to defend what belongs to us. Who is the best to beat at my weight class? It's MJ, so I am here to challenge myself with this task and I'm confident in my ability and my team to come out victorious.”

Martinez vs. Arroyo

Martinez (18-1, 14 KOs), 26, of Mexico, who will make his fourth defense, and Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs), 35, of Puerto, have been scheduled to face each other multiple times beginning in May 2020 before Martinez tested positive for Covid-19 and the fight was postponed.

They were supposed to fight on the Alvarez-Avni Yildirim undercard in February, but Martinez withdrew a few days before the bout with a hand injury.

“It is great that we are finally able to get this fight,” Martinez said. “We have tried twice to do it but that’s all in the past and now we’re going to go to war. McWilliams is a strong challenger for the belt but I feel fantastic and I am ready to prove that I am the man to beat at flyweight.”

With Martinez unable to fight him on the February card, Arroyo (21-4, 16 KOs), 35, of Puerto Rico, faced late replacement Abraham Rodriguez and knocked him out in the fifth round for the vacant interim title.

“This fight has been asked for and the fans will finally get a great battle,” Arroyo said. “I hope he will come prepared because I am going to be 100 percent ready and confident that I will be victorious.” 

Reis vs. Camara

Reis-Camara is the first fight of three set to crown an undisputed women’s 140-pound champion. Reis (18-7-1, 5 KOs), 35, of Providence, Rhode Island, will be making her second defense when she meets Camara (8-2, 0 KOs), 33, of Montreal.

The Reis-Camara winner will face the winner of the Oct. 30 unification fight between WBC titlist Chantelle Cameron and IBF titlist Mary McGee.

“I am in this tournament to collect all of the belts and become undisputed champion,” Reis said. “Jessica is a talented fighter, but she will not deter me from achieving my goal. No one will.”

Added Camara, “Kali will be a tough opponent, but I will be ready. Thank you to DAZN, Lou DiBella and Eddie Hearn for putting this historic tournament together to crown an undisputed champion.”

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