Demetrius Andrade (27-0, 17 KO) successfully defended his WBO middleweight title on Saturday night at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden against an overmatched, but game Artur Akavov (19-3). Andrade scored a controversial 12th-round TKO after dominating almost every second of each round.
On the strength of an omnipresent jab, a consistent body attack, and ingenious spatial awareness, Andrade proved to be too much for Akavov. The champion outlanded the challenger 181-40 and outjabbed him 99-8. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. stopped the fight in the final round after Akavov took three relatively hard shots, and began to back up.
Akavov was clearly behind in the fight, but he wasn't hurt. He immediately voiced his displeasure with the referee's decision. Mercante tried to explain himself, but Akavov and his corner were hearing none of it. Even Akavov's promoter Lou DiBella climbed into the ring to dispute the referee's decision. Moments later, he'd take to social media to call out Mercante.
That wasn’t a TKO. Akavov earned the right to go the distance. Andrade won easily, but there was NO justification for a stoppage with 30 seconds left. Boo Boo didn’t deserve it. #boxing #truth https://t.co/1fiuMLa0os
— Lou DiBella (@loudibella) January 19, 2019
Fox and RING boxing analyst Mike Coppinger did the same:
Horrendous stoppage from Arthur Mercante Jr., another bad job in a long line of them. The absolute big-fight assignment ref in the sport. Akavov deserved the opportunity to finish that fight. Gutted for him #AndradeAkavov
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 19, 2019
The decision to stop the fight was indeed premature, and probably unwarranted. However, Akavov had no real chance to win the fight. I believe going out on your proverbial shield is overrated when a fighter is taking a lot of damage, but I'm not sure that was the situation with this bout.
Andrade was connecting, but he wasn't battering Akavov with a ton of power shots, especially not to the head. Had Akavov been a little more beaten up or even exhausted, perhaps I could have better understood Mercante's decision.
I find some fault with the referee, but not as much as some of his other critics, and probably not for the same reasons. In any case, Andrade remains undefeated and in a position to potentially unify the middleweight titles.
He looked masterful at times, but there is still something missing from his performances. With the middleweight division getting so crowded and Canelo Alvarez signed to face Daniel Jacobs on May 4 on DAZN, Andrade may be left out of the biggest fights on the streaming service's calendar.
It would be wise for Matchroom to try to get Andrade on the Canelo-Jacobs undercard to get him more exposure. Having Andrade face the winner of that bout later this year is a sensible plan.
Another option, if things fall into place, would be to have Andrade take on Gennady Golovkin. Matchroom's Eddie Hearn spoke on Saturday night about his promotion's desire to sign Golovkin and bring him to DAZN. It would make sense considering all of the champions in the middleweight division are linked to the streaming service.
At 30 years old, Andrade is still in his prime, but the question is how long will he be able to perform at this level? If he wants to reach his potential, at some point, he's going to have to climb into the ring with the best fighters at 160 pounds. After another win on Saturday, we still don't know when or if that'll happen.
