Demetrius Andrade to defend title against Luke Keeler on Jan. 30
None of the top middleweights have been eager to face Demetrius Andrade but Luke Keeler will.
Andrade will defend his 160-pound belt against the fringe contender Jan. 30 on DAZN. Tevin Farmer and Daniel Roman will defend their world titles on the undercard.
Andrade (28-0, 17 KOs) figures to cruise past Keeler (17-2-1, 5 KOs), an Irishman who is 7-0-1 in his last eight fights but has never faced anyone like the man he’ll meet at Meridian at Island Gardens.
Andrade has been lobbying to fight one of the other middleweight titleholders – Canelo Alvarez, Jermall Charlo or Gennady Golvokin – but, thus far, no one has been interested in tangling with the slick southpaw from Rhode Island.
The other featured fights should be more competitive.
Farmer (30-3-1, 6 KOs) is defending his junior lightweight title against capable
fellow southpaw Joseph Diaz Jr. (30-1, 15 KOs). Farmer lost four of his first 12 fights but hasn’t had a setback since 2012. He’s on a roll.
Diaz has won four straight since he lost a wide decision to Gary Russell Jr. in his previous shot at a major title.
Roman (27-2-1, 10 KOs) will be defending his two junior featherweight titles against unbeaten former amateur star Murodjon Akhmadaliev (7-0, 6 KOs), a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist from Uzbekistan.