Press Release: Welterweight Demetrius Andrade (Providence, R.I.) won his first World Championship on Saturday at the 2007
AIBA World Boxing Championships in Chicago. Andrade dominated every second of his championship bout with Thailand’s Non Boonjumnong before the bout was stopped with 15 seconds remaining in the second round due to an injury to the Thai boxer.
In the first round, Andrade Landed shots to the head and body for 15 seconds before the referee jumped in and gave Boonjumnong a standing eight count. The crowd rose to its feet and Andrade held a 6-0 lead just over a minute into the round. He pushed his advantage to a 10-1 lead over the final 45 seconds to take a commanding lead into the second. Andrade started the second in the same manner he finished the first, and began landing vicious body shots. He continued to control the action through the second, but Boonjumnong suffered an arm injury and the bout was stopped at the 1:45 mark of the round. Andrade raised his hands in victory as the referee took Boonjumnong to his corner, giving the American boxer the victory.
I saw the opening and when I saw it, I let everything loose because he’s so long and it takes awhile for him to get his arms back up from throwing punches. So I worked from there and everything worked well,” Andrade said. “I was surprised (by the stoppage) but I knew going into the later rounds that it wasn’t going to go all the way.”
The gold medal is the second international medal for Andrade who won silver at the 2007 Pan American Games. Andrade joins fellow 2007 World Champion, flyweight Rau’shee Warren (Cincinnati, Ohio). The two are roommates at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
“Rau’shee and I always work together, work hard and we’re going to help our teammates to make sure the same thing happens. When we get back to Colorado Springs, we will help the other young boxers to get everybody the gold,” Andrade said.
Warren and Andrade are the first U.S. boxers since 1999 to win world championships. In addition to the two gold medals, the U.S. team qualified five boxers for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The three boxers joining Warren and Andrade are light flyweight Luis Yanez (Duncanville, Texas), bantamweight Gary Russell, Jr. (Capitol Heights, Md.) and featherweight Raynell Williams (Cleveland, Ohio).
