The Quest for Gold: Demetrius Andrade’s QF Report Card

Tag : Hardware Hooks


By Cliff Rold
20-year old Welterweight Demetrius Andrade of Providence, RhodeIsland came into the 2008 Beijing Games as one of Americas twobest hopes for Gold, a defending 2007 World Amateur champion withthe size, speed, power and experience to advance. He still has allthose assets and is sure to use them to his benefit in theprofessional ranks. He will do it without a Medal of any kind.
By two points against South Koreas 27-year old Jungjoo Kim, a 2004Bronze Medalist at 152 lbs., Andrade joins seven fellow Americanson the outside looking in as national anthems are played for menwith hardware next Saturday and Sunday.
Team USA has secured a place in history with Andrades quarterfinalloss on Sunday but it is not a history they wanted. Regardless ofthe eventual outcome of Heavyweight Deontay Wilders quarterfinalperformance, the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team goes down in historyas the nations worst performing pugilism team.
Ever.
It wasnt all their fault and what is so hurting is that the teamwas nowhere near that bad. This was, on paper, Americas best teamsince the 1996 squad that went home with six medals (five bronze,one Gold) with two reigning World champions and three other strongcontenders. No American squad since the 1920 competition had everleft the Olympic stage without capturing at least two Medals. Andrades loss guaranteed that bit of ignominy and while therecould, and should, be tremendous argument with the scoring of hisbout, he ultimately is left knowing a better start might have meanta better finish.
Blessed with a tremendous advantage in speed, the obvious beginningfor Andrade would have been to circle the ring, snap the jab, andstart working the left hand from his southpaw stance. He got thecircling part right, but the punches were few from both men.
How bad was it?
At the thirty second mark, both Kim and Andrade were cautioned bythe referee for not fighting. Thirty second later, a full minuteinto the round, they were cautioned for the same sin again. Andrade was occasionally jabbing while largely waiting for Kim tolead presumably so he could counter; Kim was throwing nothing atall waiting for the same. The audience was just waiting for themto stop waiting. They did with Andrade letting loose a missingleft and beginning a pursuit. In the final ten seconds, Kim lethis hands go and received a point though it was unclear exactlywhich punch landed and the round ended with the American down 1-0.
His coaches implored him to throw more in round two and Andrade gota point for a lead left but received no score for two clean righthooks to the body while Kim received a point for a right hand andgot his lead back. They traded clean power hand points and abeautiful counter right from Andrade landed flush to the jaw nearthe thirty second mark followed by a right to the body, neither ofwhich scored while Kim got a point for a right to Andrades gloveto go up 4-3. Andrade then scored with a right and left uppercut,the left cleaner, and got no points before a longer left fromoutside got him to within one.
Kim and Andrade traded points cleanly to start the third but asolid shot downstairs was unnoticed for Andrade while the Koreanagain scored with the right. Another right to the body, the sortof punch Andrade was scored on regularly in his previous fight,went unscored before a left got him his fifth point. Kim scored acounter right on a wild missed lead uppercut from Andrade andanother right put him up 8-5. Andrade scored with a slick rightbut a long clean left got no point and he needed to overcome atwo-point deficit to win.
They trade clean point to start another round and Kim was deniedthe point on his own clean body shot. Andrade was denied again ona left that pushed back the head of Kim before a right from theKorean made the fight 10-7. A straight left made it 10-8 and aclinch left Kim on the floor. A clean right from Kim failed toscore before Andrade, fighting frantically, pulled within one goingupstairs. Denied yet another point for flush body work, Andradewould fall behind by two yet again off a glancing right from Kim. The score would stand in that position, 11-9.
Quartefinals Grade: B
Even in the loss, Andrade could well have received an A had he beenas assertive in the first round as he was the rest of the way. Regardless, he reaches the end of an otherwise outstanding amateurcareer. Two U.S. National titles, two National Golden Glovestitles and a World title are nothing to sneeze at but none of thoseare the Olympics. Andrade was understandably disappointed afterthe bout, citing again the U.S. frustration with the Olympicscoring. He makes a hell of a point, perhaps a bad choice of wordsconsidering how many were denied him.
Even so, his behavior after the bout was unbecoming. Rather thanwait in the ring while Kim was formally announced the winner,Andrade left the ring before the official announcement and stalkedoff towards his interview, earning a chorus of boos. Andrade wasnot the first fighter who felt robbed in these Games. Win or lose,rightly or wrongly, he owed it to Kim to behave like the fightingman after the fight he had been during the action.
It is in moments like Andrades post-fight walk-out that weremember how young some Olympians still are. The tears in his eyesboth after the fight and in his interview showed how bad he wantedit and so there can be no grudge held by viewers. Coach DanCampbell defended his charge and railed against the scoringcalamities that have befallen both the U.S> and a Russian teamwhich has been on the wrong end of some jaw droppingly baddecisions. Campbells anger, and Andrades, was at least justifiedas this scribe counted some eleven shots that never made thescoreboard. Kim also was not awarded some earned points but notenough to make up that deficit.
Andrade threw more and landed more.
Andrade goes home.
While the bulk of the judging the Games really hasnt been as badas the chatter, this was. Judges who cannot score clean punchesshould not be there and they missed them repeatedly for Andradejust as they had in the round of 16 for Raynell Williams.
One can only wonder at the pressure Heavyweight Deontay Wildercarried into the ring for his quarters match, knowing that noAmerican team had ever gone without medaling at all. His effortwill be reviewed and before the eyes of loyal readers next.
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Quarterfinals: Deontay Wilder (Heavyweight)

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Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Paneland the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reachedat roldboxing@hotmail.com