Demetrius the daredevil

Demetrius Andrade earned the nickname "Boo Boo" with his audacious, risk-taking nature as a child. 

“The nickname came from me being a daredevil as a kid. I used to go outside, climb trees, jump off roofs, do all that," Andrade said. "I used to come running in the house with a bump or bruise from all of that, so my family just said, ‘your name is Boo Boo.’” 

By the time he was four, Demetrius was a regular at his father Paul’s gym, often watching his dad train his eight-year-old brother. Two years later, Paul began training Demetrius. 

"I played a little football but it was nothing like boxing: One on one. Me vs. you. You win, you win. I lose, I lose," Andrade said. "It was for me to build the character inside to be like, 'how do I get better at this without relying on anybody else?'"

Andrade enjoyed an immensely successful amateur career. A quick left-hander with a devastating right, Andrade won his first gold medal in 2002 at the National Silver Gloves Championships for ages 12 and 13 at 112 pounds. 

Andrade won the United States amateur titles in 2005 and 2006, missing the 2007 event because of an injury. He also won the 2006 and 2007 national Golden Gloves titles.

At the 2007 world boxing championships in Chicago, Demetrius Andrade joined Rau’Shee Warren as the first Americans to win gold medals since 1999. 

During that tournament, Andrade won each of his matches by at least 11 points, also defeating 2005 world silver medalist Magomed Nurutdinov of Belarus.

In the United States Olympic team trials in 2007, Andrade went 4-0 with two knockouts and beat future professional champion, Keith Thurman, in the finals, 21-13.

Andrade was among the most promising prospects of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team before losing in the quarterfinals, 11-9, to Korean boxer Kim Jung-Joo.

A knockout of a start

Andrade's professional debut was a second-round TKO of Patrick Cape in October 2008, and was followed in November by his fourth-round stoppage of Eric Marriott.

“Boo Boo” went 6-0 (4 KOs) in 2009 starting with fourth- and second-round knockouts of Tom Joseph and Arnulfo Javier Romero on March 6 and March 20. 

Those were followed by a four-round unanimous decision over Tony Hirsch (June) and second- and sixth-round stoppages of Chad Greenleaf (August) and John Williams (September). 

Andrade ended the year at 8-0 (6 KOs) following a six-round unanimous decision over Chris Chatman (October), who entered at 4-0 (2 KOs).

Andrade fought three times in 2010, with first- and second-round knockouts of Bernardo Guereca (January) and Dave Saunders (September) being separated by a six-round unanimous decision over Geoffrey Spruiell (April).

On the way to earning two of four victories by stoppage in 2011 and improving to 14-0 (9 KOs), Andrade went the distance over eight and 10 rounds, each for the first time in his career. 

In succession, Andrade won January's eight-round unanimous decision over Alberto Herrera, scored a second-round knockout of Omar Bell in April, ground out a 10-round unanimous decision over former contender, Grady Brewer, in August, and retired Saul Duran in three rounds in September.

A winner of Season 2 of “The Contender,” Brewer entered at 28-12 and had more knockouts (16) than victories for Andrade.

"Boo Boo" totaled five rounds and three knockouts in 2012, with second-, first- and second-round stoppages of Angel Hernandez (February), Rudy Cisneros (May) and Alexis Hloros (September).

A ‘focused’ champion

Andrade shined even brighter in 2013, scoring a shut-out, one-knockdown unanimous decision over Freddy Hernandez in January before rising from a first-round knockdown in November for a split-decision victory over previously undefeated Vanes (The Nightmare) Martirosyan and the WBO's Super Welterweight (154 pound) title. 

Hernandez slipped to 30-4 (20 KOs), and former Olympian Martirosyan, to 33-1-1 (21 KOs).

Martirosyan and Andrade both fought for the U.S. in the Olympics, Martirosyan in 2004 and Andrade in 2008.

“He caught me early, but I stayed focused,” said Andrade of Martirosyan. “I started using the jab from that point forward and began to pick him apart.”

Andrade fought once each in 2014, 2015 and 2016, scoring a seventh-round TKO of Brian Rose (June), another in the second-round over Dario Fabian Pucheta (October), and a third in the 12th during a three-knockdown stoppage of Willie Nelson (June). 

Rose slipped to 25-2-1 (7 KOs) Pucheta to 20-3 (11 KOs), and Nelson to 25-3-1 (15 KOs). The victory over Rose was a title defense before Andrade was stripped of his junior middleweight crown for inactivity. 

"When I was a kid, I used to jump around everywhere," said Andrade, who improved to 23-0 (16 KOs). "Like all kids, I fell down and hurt myself. Now, I’m the one who gives out the Boo Boos."

‘I was the better man’

Andrade traveled to Germany for his first of two bouts in 2017, dethroning hometown favorite Jack Culcay by split decision in March to claim the WBA's super welterweight title as the loser dropped to 22-2 (11 KOs).

“I did everything I needed to do. I came to Germany and took the title,” Andrade said. “Culcay fought like a champion but I was the better man. It feels great. I never lost my [WBO] belt in the ring."

Rising to 160 pounds for his next bout in October, Andrade rose from a seventh-round knockdown to defeat 6-foot-4 Alantez Fox, who entered at 23-0-1 (11 KOs).

In October 2018, Andrade dominated Walter Kautondokwa by a near shutout unanimous decision for the WBO's middleweight crown, ultimately making five title defenses over the next three years.

In 2019, Andrade stopped Artur Akavov in the 12th round in January and then outpointed Maciej Sulecki in June. 

A ninth-round TKO of Luke Keeler in January was Andrade's lone victory in 2020, but he followed that up with a pair of wins in 2021; a unanimous decision over Liam Williams in April and a second-round knockout of Jason Quigley in November. 

On January 7, 2023, Andrade made his super middleweight debut, easily winning a 10-round unanimous decision over hammer-fisted Demond Nicholson. He wasn't so fortunate in his next bout. On November 25, 2023, Andrade would suffer the first loss of his pro career when undefeated two-time super middleweight champion David Benavidez stopped him in six rounds.

It was a valiant performance from Andrade, who started off hot before succcombing to Benavidez's superior offensive artillery.