By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo of Richmond, Texas will be meeting Sergiy Derevyanchenko of Ukraine in Uncasville, Connecticut this Saturday, Sept. 26th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the USA and the UK on pay-per-view. Charlo last fought in December when he stopped Dennis Hogan in the seventh round. The last outing for Derevyanchenko came in October when he was dropped in the second round by Gennady Golovkin but bounced back to lose a close unanimous decision in a highly-entertaining fight.
Charlo is a former IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion who defended the belt three times after winning it by stopping Cornelius Bundrage in the third round in September, 2015. The 30-year-old enters the contest with a perfect record of 30-0 along with 22 Kos. He stands 6-feet-tall and has a reach of 73.5 inches. Charlo’s on quite a roll as he’s stopped 20 of his last 24 opponents and won the interim WBC Middleweight Title in April, 2018 when he stopped Hugo Centeno Jr in the second round.
Charlo has 147 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2008 and this will be his sixth contest as a middleweight. He has fine power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 73.3 per cent. However, it could be argued that the only upper level boxers he’s met so far have been Julian Williams, Matt Korobov, Austin Trout and Bundrage, who was 42 when Charlo beat him for the title. Charlo hasn’t exactly been clashing with elite level boxers but has been overpowering just about everybody he’s faced lately.
The champion has displayed fine speed and boxing skills but his chin has yet to be really tested. He’s a strong, offensive-minded boxer who would rather his fights didn’t reach the scorecards. His only other notable win so far has been against Antwone Smith. And although he’s beaten a world champion in Bundrage and former world champion in Trout, Charlo hasn’t proven to the fans to be an elite boxer as of yet but a win over Derevyanchenko should help his cause.
Derevyanchenko is 34 years old and now fights out of Brooklyn. He’ll climb through the ropes with a mark of 13-2 with 10 Kos. He’s relatively small for a middleweight at 5-feet-9-inches and has a reach of 67.5 inches, giving up three inches in height and six inches in reach to Charlo. Derevyanchenko has boxed just 93 rounds since turning pro in 2014 and that’s mainly due to his current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. He enjoyed a fine amateur career before turning pro and boxed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China as well as in the World Series of Boxing.
His other pro defeat came via a split decision to his Brooklyn, New York stablemate Daniel Jacobs in a tilt for the vacant IBF Middleweight Title in October, 2018. There’s no doubt Derevyanchenko has good power, but it hasn’t been as effective when stepping up in class against Golovkin and Jacobs. So far, he’s beaten the likes of Jack Culcay, Dashon Johnson, Raul Munoz, Tureano Johnson, Jessie Nicklow, Sam Soliman, Kemahl Russell and Elvin Ayala.
Prediction…
Derevyanchenko has a ton of heart and determination and gave Jacobs and Golovkin all they could handle. This might be his last chance to prove he belongs as a legitimate world champion contender. He needs to get inside and pressure Charlo relentlessly and I think if he can keep it up for all 12 rounds he could leave the ring with the belt around his waist.
