Demetrius Andrade ethnicity stems from the island nation of Africa, Cabo Verde. In 2020, Andrade filed for dual citizenship and can now continue representing the US with Cabo Verde.
A trip to Portugal changed it all for the professional boxer Demetrius Andrade. The 35-year-old, after his trip to the European nation, has tried his best to connect with the people of Cabo Verde.
Born and raised in Rhode Island, Andrade didn’t have much influence from his ancestral roots. It was only after he grew older that Andrade understood the importance of having the backing of your community.
Seeing how passionate Mexicans and Dominicans are about their boxers was also one of the reasons why Andrade wanted to connect with his roots.
Now, Demetrius will hope his Cabo Verde community will be the loudest when he comes face-to-face with Undefeated two-time super middleweight world champion David “El Monstruo” Benavidez on November 25.
Demetrius Andrade Ethnicity
Demetrius Andrade’s ethnicity isn’t tricky to pinpoint, as the professional boxer is indeed proud of his roots. On his Instagram handle, we can see several pictures of Demetrius holding the Cabo Verde flag.
Demetrius Andrade might have grown up in Providence, Rhode Island, but he has tried his best to stay in touch with his roots. Earlier this year, on July 5, Demetrius Andrade shared a post wishing “Happy Independence Day” to the Cape Verdeans.
In an interview, Demetrius mentioned Rhode Island didn’t have a strong Cape Verdean community, and he mostly grew up around Dominican people.
During the interview, the boxer said he wanted to connect with his ancestry after his time in Portugal. Andrade said seeing people speak the Cape Verdean Creole language and being unable to communicate with them made him want to know more about his culture.
Andrade further said after returning to the US from his trip to Portugal, he asked his dad why he didn’t teach him Creole. Since then, Demetrius has tried his best to learn more about his ethnic roots.
Last year, the former WBO light middleweight champion even made a seven-part series visiting Cabo Verde. Demetrius’ dad, Paul, was also with him during the trip, and the two even met Cabo Verde’s Ambassador to Portugal.
Paul shared that his parents were the ones who were born in Cabo Verde, and he was born and raised in the States. Andrade shared that the sole purpose of his trip was to uplift the Cabo Verde community.
Demetrius Andrade Nationality
Demetrius Andrade has represented the United States several times at the international level. But in 2020, he mentioned he has dual citizenship.
While talking to Chachi Carvalho, Demetrius said he now had dual citizenship and had met with the Prime Minister of Cabo Verde. In 2021, Demetrius was also honored with the 1st Degree of the Sports Merit medal by the Cabo Verde government.
The ceremony happened at the Government Palace, and the Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, awarded the boxer.
During his speech, Demetrius said he was proud to represent his country and wanted to reciprocate the love he received from Cabo Verdeans by visiting all the islands. And in his seven-part series, Demetrius tried to do that.
Previously, Demetrius represented the US in the World Championship and won a gold medal. He also represented the States in the 2007 Pan America Games and won a silver medal in the Welterweight class, losing the gold to Pedro Lima.
In 2008, Demetrius was one of the boxers representing the United States in the Beijing Olympics. But unfortunately, it didn’t go well for the boxer as he ended up blaming the judges for poor showing.
Andrade lost 11-9 to South Korea’s Kim Jungjoo in his quarter-final fight, sealing Team USA’s worst-ever Olympic boxing performance.
