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Steve KimESPN
WBO middleweight champ Demetrius Andrade will face Dusty Hernandez Harrison in a 10-round non-title fight on Nov. 27 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
The card, which also features former two-time titlist Daniel Jacobs vs. Gabe Rosado, will take place without fans in attendance due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) is fighting for the first time since he stopped Luke Keeler with a ninth-round TKO in January.
“Is this the big fight I wanted or have been chasing? No,” the 32-year-old Andrade said. “But what am I supposed to do? Sit here and keep waiting for someone to answer the phone or accept one of [promoter Eddie Hearn’s] offers? I’m in the prime of my career and I want to stay busy and fight as much as possible.
“With everything going on with COVID, you don’t know what’s going to happen. I have the opportunity to fight now, and I’m taking it. My job is to go out there, take care of business on Nov. 27. And then, 2021, it’s time for one of these big names to step up to the plate. You can’t duck me forever. Let’s give the fans what they want and deserve to see.”
The undefeated Harrison (34-0-1, 20 KOs) sees this as an opportunity to stamp himself as a world-class fighter.
“This is the opportunity I have been waiting for my entire life,” Harrison said. “This is why I started boxing. All of the time I have dedicated to this sport, I finally get my opportunity to show the world who I am and what I am capable of. … Demetrius talks a big game and says he is the boogeyman of the division, but who has he fought?”
Harrison, 26, said he isn’t impressed by Andrade.
“He goes out, fights whoever it is, runs around the ring, picks up a win and goes back to running his mouth,” Harrison said. “He says that he is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. OK, so be it. On Nov. 27, I take his spot.
“I know that people are going to doubt me going into this fight, and that is fine. That fuels my energy. Keep doubting me. Andrade doesn’t know what he got himself into. He better be ready when we step into that ring because I’m coming for him.”