PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Demetrius Andrade holds one of the four major world middleweight championship belts and wants to fight the man who has the other three, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Before he gets to do that, he has at least one more fight, when he makes the second defense of his World Boxing Organization title Saturday night against Maciej Sulecki of Poland at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
"I've been calling out Canelo and Triple G (former champion Gennadiy Golovkin) for 10 fights and I keep winning," Andrade said at a press conference Thursday at the Graduate Hotel. "At the end of this fight, I see myself with my hand raised, my belt around my waist yelling 'Canelo!'"
The 31-year-old Andrade (27-0, 17 knockouts) previously held the WBO and World Boxing Association junior middleweight titles. He won the WBO middleweight title on Oct. 20, 2018, with a 12-round unanimous decision over Walter Kotondokwa in Boston. He defended the title Jan. 18, stopping Artur Akavov in the 12th round in New York.
Sulecki, 30, is 20-1 with 11 knockouts, His only loss is a 12-round decision against former WBA champion Danny Jacobs in a non-title bout on April 26, 2018. He won his last two fights.
"I don't see anything special about him," Andrade said. "If there were something special, he'd be undefeated and a world champion and I'd be the challenger. Whatever he brings to the table, I'm going to be prepared for it."
This is the first time Andrade has fought in his hometown of Providence and promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing said he is expecting a crowd of about 7,000.
"You'll see the best of Demetrius Andrade," Hearn said. "Sulecki will bring the fight to him. He'll be in his face all night. That style should suit Demetrius. What we don't know about Demetrius is his heart, his chin, He's never been tested, but he will be."
Sulecki wants do more than test the champion.
In Poland, we have a great saying 'Pride comes before the fall,'" Sulecki said. "On Saturday, I'm going to have a lot of fun taking the title from him."
The promotion that will be shown live on the streaming service DAZN in the United States and Sky Sports in Britain, includes a WBA super flyweight title bout between champion Khalid Yafai of Britain (25-0, 15 knockouts) and Norberto Jimenez of the Dominican Republic (29-8-4, 16 knockouts).There also is a non-title heavyweight bout between former WBO champion Joseph Parker of New Zealand (25-2, 13 knockouts) and Australian Alex Leapai (32-7-4, 25 knockouts).
Parker won the vacant WBO title on Dec. 10, 2016, against Andy Ruiz, who upset WBA, WBO and International Boxing Federation champion Anthony Joshua on June 1. Parker lost his WBO title to Joshua on March 31, 2018, losing a 12-round decision.
"There are the fights I need to get back in there," the 27-year-old Parker said. "I have to take care of Alex first, then maybe get revenge against Joshua or fight Ruiz again."
