Demetrius Andrade To Defend WBO Middleweight Title In January
Although DAZN just concluded a major boxing card at Madison Square Garden, the streaming service won’t be out for long until they return to New York.
DAZN and Matchroom Boxing USA officially announced that they will have a boxing card on January 18, 2019 at Madison Square Garden’s nearby Hulu Theater. The card will feature WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade making his first successful title defense against former title challenger Artur Akavov.
Andrade will be making a quick return to the ring after winning the WBO title, his first world title at middleweight, back in October on a Matchroom Boxing USA card in Boston. Andrade scored a wide unanimous decision victory over Walter Kautondokwa in the main event. Andrade was supposed to face Billy Joe Saunders, but Saunders failed a drug test and was denied a license to box in Boston, prompting the change in the main event.
Akavov, a former WBF and WBO European middleweight champion, had only one shot at the WBO world title back in 2016. Akavov fought Saunders for the title, but Akavov lost a narrow unanimous decision in what was Saunders’ first title defense at the time. Since then, Akavov has won his last three fights, reaching the No. 8 spot in the WBO rankings at 168 pounds.
Another fight that was announced for the card is former lightweight champion Jorge Linares taking on Pablo Cesar Cano in Linares’ second consecutive fight at 140 pounds. Linares returned to the ring back in September when he defeated Abner Cotto to capture his first victory since losing his WBA lightweight title to Vasiliy Lomachenko back in May.
