Pride Park Stadium, home of Derby County Football Club, will stage the WBO Interim Super Middleweight world title clash between Zach Parker and the unbeaten two-weight world champion Demetrius Andrade on Saturday, 21st May 2022, live on BT Sport.
In what will be a huge occasion for knockout artist Parker 22-0 (16 KOs) and the city of Derby, the lifelong fan of the Rams will get to live out his dream of fighting on the pitch of his local football club.
With the clubs financial struggles this season being well known, Queensberry Promotions knew there was a responsibility to help, so £10 from each ticket sold goes directly back to the club to support the future of DCFC.
Since teaming up with Frank Warren and Queensberry, the 27-year-old has clocked up three spectacular and emphatic wins to reinforce his position as No.1 contender in the WBO rankings.
Parker wowed BT Sport viewers with brutal knockouts of Vaughn Alexander, Sherzod Khusanov and Marcus Morrison. None of the three men had previously been stopped.
“This is a dream come true,” said Parker. “As a fighter you have various hopes when you start out in the sport. I think every one of us dreams of headlining a show at the football team you support, I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet to be honest.
“It will be incredible to walk-out and see the stadium packed with fans, I can’t wait. Demetrius is a great champion and props to him for coming over here but I know I have the beating of him, I’m too big for him. We’ll see on the 21st, but someone’s ‘0’ has got to go!”
Andrade, 34, widely known as Boo Boo, began his world championship reign at super welterweight with victory over Vanes Martirosyan in 2013. The WBO title was defended on four occasions, including a stoppage victory over Britain’s Brian Rose in 2014.
His middleweight crusade began in 2018 when he won the vacant WBO title by virtue of a points verdict over Walter Kautondokwa. His title at 160lbs has been defended five times and the super-slick southpaw remains champion at the weight. Notable wins at middleweight have come over Liam Williams and the Irishmen Luke Keeler and Jason Quigley.
“There can be no questioning the pedigree of Demetrius Andrade,” said promoter Frank Warren. “It is why we went above and beyond to win the purse bid to give our man every crucial advantage.
“It is going to be such a special night on 21st May and I feel sure the Derby public will come out in force to roar Zach on in the biggest fight of his career.
“When we teamed up with Zach he revealed his dream of fighting at Pride Park – where he is a dedicated supporter of his home team – and we set about making his dream become a reality. Added to that, the £10 going to the club is something I hope inspires the fans to come and support Zach and DCFC in even larger numbers than we predict.
“We have done this before in recent years for Josh Warrington in Leeds and Carl Frampton in Belfast and both were successful on magical nights. I see no reason at all why Zach cannot experience similar joy.
“Andrade is top-drawer and we know this, but he is moving up a weight to super middle, which is natural territory for Zach and he is a monster at the weight. Other British and Irish fighters have struggled to fathom out Andrade, but Zach is the complete package. Not only does he carry a huge punch, but he is also tall and technical with an excellent boxing brain.
“It all adds up to a cracking fight and a huge night for Derby. I would like to extend my thanks to everyone at the club who have helped to make this happen.”
Tickets for Zach Parker vs Demetrius Andrade at Pride Park on Saturday, 21st May go on sale at 11am on Thursday, 31st March.
–boxingscene.com
