By Jim Dower: Unbeaten middleweight contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko (10-0, 8 KOs) overcame a shaky start to come on and stopped previously unbeaten Kemahl Russell (10-1, 8 KOs) by a 5th round knockout on Tuesday night at the Fitz Tunica Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi. Derevyanchenko hurt Russell with a right hand in the 5th round that sent him into the corner.
Derevyanchenko then unloaded with a flurry of shots to the head and body of Russell until referee Bill Clancy stepped in and halted the fight at 1:08 of the round. Russell looked hurt at the time of the stoppage. He was fortunate that Clancy stopped it when he did because there was still a lot of time left in the round. Derevyanchenko was not getting tired at all from nailing him with big power shots.
In round 1, the taller 6’0” Russell used his jab and powerful right hands to get the better of the slower and shorter 5’9” Derevyanchenko. Russell clearly had the better hand speed of the two, as well as the power. What Derevyanchenko had going for him was his precise punch placement, and his tight guard. Russell did a good job of landing around Derevyanchenko ‘s guard in the opening round to get the better of him. Derevyanchenko did not look confident at all in the round. He seemed to be a little awed by the boxing skills, size and power of Russell at the time.
Derevyanchenko fought well in round 2 in landing a series of left hands to the head of Russell. It was still a very close round, but Derevyanchenko appeared to be a little bit better.
Russell kind of disappeared in the fight after the 2nd round, as Derevyanchenko took over the fight entirely by the 3rd round. Derevyanchenko fought in a stiff and robotic manner, but he was still landing the better punches and he was placing them perfectly at open spots in Russell’s guard. In the last seconds of round 3, Russell showed some life in landing a big right hand to the head of Derevyanchenko. However, it wasn’t a big enough punch to turn back the Ukrainian fighter. He just coming forward looking to land his own hard punches.
In round 4, Derevyanchenko started to increase his attacks, as he stood in front of Russell, nailing him with shots from body to head repeatedly all throughout the round. It was impressive to watch, as Derevyanchenko looked highly skilled. If there’s any real criticism you could say about Derevyanchenko in the round, it was his lack of hand speed. He looked very slow and very mechanical.
A faster middleweight like Daniel Jacobs would have been a problem for Derevyanchenko. The last minute of the 4th round were nonstop punches from Derevyanchenko to a very unsteady looking Russell. It seemed pretty obvious that by the end of the round that Russell was in trouble and wasn’t going to last too much longer with the fight being so one-sided.
At the start of round 5, Derevyanchenko unloaded on Russell after hurting him with a right hand to the head. The shot sent Russell into the ropes, where he tried to cover up as Derevyanchenko unloaded on him with shots. Russell tried to get a few punches in between the shots that Derevyanchenko was throwing, it was no use.
Derevyanchenko was a like a shark that smelled blood, because he just kept throwing one punch after another while Russell tried in vain to block the punches. At one point, Russell got partially twisted around while getting nailed by Derevyanchenko’s powerful shots. The referee Bill Clancy realzed that the fight needed to be stepped at that point and he then stepped in and halted the fight.
Derevyanchenko came into the fight tonight ranked #2 IBF, #5 WBC, #14 WBO at middleweight. The victory over Russell should push him up the ranking a little higher. Derevyanchenko needs to let his hands go a lot more in his fights, because right now, he would likely be destroyed if he’d been in the ring with IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin tonight instead of Russell. Derevyanchenko looks like a decent fighter, but he’s got a long ways to go before he can compare with someone like Golovkin. It would be a mismatch if the two of them were to face each other anytime soon.
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Unbeaten light heavyweight prospect Ahmed Elbiali (15-0, 12 KOs) destroyed and over-matched journeyman Jackson Junior (20-9, 18 KOs) in a 1st round knockout on Tuesday night on Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 at the Fitz Tunica Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi. The 26-year-old Elbiali landed a chopping right hand to the head of Junior that knocked him down. A badly hurt Junior made it back to his feet, but the referee halted the fight after seeing how hurt he was. The time of the stoppage was at 1:33 of the round. Elbiali looked good in the fight for the short period of time the fight lasted.
This was the first fight for Elbiali since January of 2016, as he was on the shelf with a hand injury all this time. Before tonight, Elbiali’s last win was against Andrew Hernandez in beating him by an 8 round unanimous decision.
The loss for Junior was his 4th defeat in his last 7 fights.
Elbiali landed a vicious right hook, disabling Junior. Time was 1:33.