Hearn pleads with WBO and WBC to order Andrade-Charlo 'for the good of boxing'

Promoter points out both organizations have power to mandate the middleweight unification fight under their rules

Demetrius Andrade, the undefeated WBO middleweight world titleholder and most avoided fighter in boxing in recent years, has waited and waited and waited for a major fight but has been unable to land it. Now he is turning to the sanctioning bodies to see if they can assist his quest.

Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, Andrade’s promoter, on Monday sent letters to WBO president Paco Valcarcel and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman hoping to convince them to help pave the way.

Hearn asked the Valcarcel to support Andrade’s quest to face WBC middleweight titlist Jermall Charlo in a unification bout and to sanction the fight that Charlo seemingly wants nothing to do with. Hearn simultaneously requested that Sulaiman use the rules of the WBC to make Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) the mandatory challenger for Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs) and order the fight immediately. In each letter Hearn noted that he was writing a similar letter to the president of the other organization.

The letters, copies of which each were obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, were sent soon after a frustrated Andrade spent much of the buildup to his fight with Jason Quigley on Friday night lamenting that the other top fighters in the division — Charlo, IBF titlist Gennadiy Golovkin and Jaime Munguia, the former WBO junior middleweight titlist and the organization’s current No. 1 middleweight contender — simply won’t fight him.

After Andrade destroyed Quigley via second-round knockout in a DAZN main event at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, he let off some steam.

“I want to get in there with the best. I want to prove I am able to get in there and win,” an animated Andrade said. “I mean I’m 31-0, WBO champion, 2008 Olympian. What do I gotta keep on doing? I don’t get it. That’s it! Line em up! That’s it! I don’t need to keep on saying and doing all the extra shit. The fans need to demand these fights. The fans need to stop letting these guys walk away with these easy ass fights. They need to fight the best. That’s all.”

Hearn concurred and also made the case.

“You have a guy here who is 31-0, an American great. He’s a proud man. He’s two-weight world champion and you got Jermall Charlo. He’s 32-0,” Hearn said. “What is going on with boxing when you’ve got two great undefeated American world champions in the same division and they won’t share the ring together? For one reason: Jermall Charlo.”

Then Hearn, who has offered Charlo millions of dollars for the fight in the past only to be ignored, went after the others.

“Jaime Munguia was the light middleweight WBO world champion. He moved up to 160,” Hearn said. “The WBO said to him you’re mandatory to Demetrius Andrade. He said, ‘No, no, no, let me have a couple of fights at middleweight.’ He’s had four fights at middleweight. And now he’s saying, ‘Hopefully, I get an eliminator next.’ Why? He can fight Demetrius Andrade next. A straight shot at a world title. Gennadiy Golovkin (is) fighting (Ryota) Murata (in a unification fight on Dec. 29). If he wins that fight he has to fight Demetrius Andrade in a unification. I don’t know what else there is to say or do. We’ve been here a thousand times before. I so desperately see this guy get his defining moment.”

‘For this fight not to happen would be a disservice to the boxing public and more importantly the two fighters who put it all on the line to achieve elite level status.’ — Eddie Hearn

In Hearn’s letter to Valcarcel, he wrote an Andrade-Charlo fight “would see two unbeaten American world champions in their prime face off against one another to stake their claim as the best middleweight fighter in the world. Put simply, it is a fight that has to happen not just for the legacy of the two fighters but for the good of boxing. I am writing to you as I am aware you care deeply about our sport, and we need your help to make this happen. Please note that I am writing a similar letter to Mauricio of the WBC simultaneously.”

Hearn noted that he has put on many huge WBO title fights over the years and that he believes Andrade-Charlo “is without question a massive fight that will capture the imagination of not just the boxing world but the wider sporting community.”

Hearn also pointed out that the WBO has the power under its rules to sanction a unification fight with a champion of another organization and the power to order it, and asked Valcarcel to do just that.

“With GGG and Murata competing for the WBA and IBF middleweight championships, this could set up an undisputed clash between the respective winners,” Hearn wrote.

Of Andrade, Hearn wrote that he “has long sought his legacy defining fight. He has proudly represented the WBO for many years but has been avoided by the biggest names in the sport, all of whom have opted to take different routes rather than step into the ring with him. We believe that Demetrius is now due his career defining moment and we respectfully ask you (and the WBC) to order Andrade and Charlo to face off for the unified WBO and WBC middleweight championship of the world.”

Hearn made a point to tell Valcarcel that the fight can take place at any time, in any location and on any network.

“There should be no reason preventing this fight (from) taking place,” Hearn wrote. “We saw the benefit of promoters working together this (past) weekend with the (Terence) Crawford v. (Shawn) Porter bout for the WBO welterweight world championship, and Matchroom has a long history of putting promotional and broadcast contracts aside to make the very biggest fights in the sport happen. For this fight not to happen would be a disservice to the boxing public and more importantly the two fighters who put it all on the line to achieve elite level status. In closing, we respectfully submit that you should permit Demetrius Andrade to defend his WBO world title against Jermall Charlo as his immediate next bout. We will then begin negotiations with PBC immediately. … Let’s make it happen my friend.”

As far as Hearn’s letter to Sulaiman, he reiterated many of the points he made to Valcarcel and added that he believed Andrade-Charlo would be the biggest middleweight fight since the two Canelo Alvarez-Golovkin fights in 2017 and 2018. He also made a point to note that Andrade had blown out Quigley in just two rounds before making his pitch.

“The WBC has the power pursuant to Article III clause 3.7 to order a unification bout with a champion of another organization recognized by the WBC and we are writing to respectfully request that the WBC exercises its discretion pursuant to this clause to order Andrade v Charlo,” Hearn wrote.

There is precedence for the WBC ordering and/or approving a champion from another organization to be mandated to fight for a WBC title. It happened when the WBC honored a request from then-WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev in 2015 to be the mandatory challenger for then-WBC champion Adonis Stevenson hoping to force an undisputed title fight, although the fight never materialized because of Stevenson.

More recently, as Hearn pointed out in his letter, the WBC in 2019 granted then-WBO/WBA lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko mandatory status so he could face Luke Campbell for the vacant WBC title.

“We believe that Demetrius’ credentials merit a similar order here and — more importantly — would force Jermall Charlo and Demetrius to face off,” Hearn wrote, adding once again it could happen any time, at any location and on any network.

“In closing, I respectfully submit that you should order that Jermall Charlo defend his WBC world title against Demetrius Andrade as his immediate next bout,” Hearn wrote. “We will then begin negotiations with PBC immediately. Let’s make it happen my friend.”

Let’s make it happen, indeed.

Photo: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing

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