By Allan Fox: Former WBA middleweight champion Daniel ‘Miracle Man’ Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs) says he wants his fight against former sparring partner Sergiy Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KOs) to be a real war when they face each other on October 27 for the vacant International Boxing Federation middleweight title on HBO at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Derevyanchenko has a good boxing brain, excellent power and an ability to defeat taller fighters. The main question is can Derevyanchenko handle the skill level of Jacobs? Derevyanchenko hasn’t fought anyone with the kind of talent that Jacobs will be bringing to the table for this fight.
Jacobs and Derevyanchenko have sparred over 300 rounds in the past, and understandably they’re well familiar with each other. Jacobs, 31, maintains that the fight isn’t going to be a sparring match when they square off. Both guys are fighting for their families. The Jacobs vs. Derevyanchenko fight has huge ramifications for the winner of the contest, because they’ll be in a good position to face the winner of the September 15 rematch between IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) and Saul Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
“We share a relationship but this is for the love of the sport – We both want to become Champions,” Jacobs said about Derevyanchenko. ”Me and Sergiy have done over 300 rounds of sparring. He knows me. I know him. I know it’s going to be a tough challenge. It’s not going to make it a sparring match. Trust me this is going to be a war! This man comes forward, strong, durable, and you guys know what I bring to the table,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs, 5’11 ½”, looked huge next to the 5’9” Derevyanchenko during their face off at the kickoff press conference last week. Derevyanchenko is going to need to find a way to neutralize Jacobs’ 2 ½” height and 6” inch reach advantage. The size advantage that Jacobs has going for him is going to make it difficult for Derevyanchenko to deal with. However, this isn’t the first time that Derevyanchenko has fought someone with that kind of size. Derevyanchenko defeated the 5’11” Elvin Ayala in 2015 by an eight round unanimous decision. As an amateur in Ukraine, Derevyanchenko fought plenty of fighters with similar size as Jacobs. The size advantage that Jacobs has might not be as big a factor in this fight as many boxing fans think it’ll be.
“I believe the best middleweight in the world is Danny Jacobs and I believe we’ll prove it,” Matchroom Boxing USA promoter Eddie Hearn.
Jacobs obviously isn’t the best middleweight in the division, but you can’t blame his promoter Eddie Hearn for saying he is. Jacobs has his chance to prove that he’s the best fighter in the 160 pound weight class against Golovkin, but he lost the fight by a 12 round unanimous. Jacobs spent too much time on the run and not enough time standing and fighting GGG. On the day of the fight, Jacobs skipped the same way morning weight check mandated by the IBF in order to try and gain an advantage over GGG. It didn’t work. Jacobs still lost the fight. It’ll be interesting to see if Jacobs skips IBF’s secondary weigh-in on the day of his fight against Derevyanchenko on October 27. It wouldn’t be in Jacobs’ best interest for him to do that because if he skips that weigh-in, he’ll be losing out on getting a huge bargaining chip to get a
fight against Canelo or GGG. Without the IBF title, Jacobs is just another fighter. With the IBF title, he has an important bargaining chip that he can use to get Canelo or more likely Golovkin to face him. Jacobs is huge for the middleweight division. It’s got to be a real hardship for him to drain down to 160 to make weight. If Jacobs unable to rehydrate until after the secondary weigh-in on the day of the fight, he may be weakened against Derevyanchenko, who is a natural middleweight.
”I know a lot of people ask why this fight,” Jacobs said about his fight against Derevyanchenko. “The question I ask myself is, ‘Do you dare to be great?’ This is for the love of boxing. I know it’s going to be a tough challenge.”
Jacobs would show a lot more by facing Jermall Charlo than he will fighting Derevyanchenko. Charlo and Jacobs have had words in the past. A fight between the two of them would surely interest a lot of boxing fans.
Derevyanchenko has looked really good since turning pro in 2013. His 12th round knockout victory over Tureano Johnson las year in August 2017 was an impressive one that caught the attention of a lot of the fans. Before that fight, Derevyanchenko was still pretty much an unknown in the eyes of a lot of boxing fans. After beating Johnson, Derevyanchenko suddenly gained a lot of attention from fans with his career. Unfortunately for Derevyanchenko, he’s fought just once in the last year in beating journeyman Dashon Johnson by a 6th round stoppage last March. Derevyanchenko looked good in that fight in dismantling the normally durable Dashon.
This is a fight that can give Derevyanchenko a great deal of attention from fans if he’s able to take Jacobs’ scalp. A lot of the fans that are dismissing Derevyanchenkos chances of beating Jacobs haven’t seen him fight before, so this will be their chance to see what he’s about. Derevyanchenko’s 12th round knockout of Tureano Johnson showed how good he is when matched against high quality opposition. Jacobs would have a lot of problems against a fighter like Tureano. Derevyanchenko dealt with Tureano with ease in out-boxing hi before stopping him in the 12th round.
Jacobs must feel that he beat Derevyacnehnko after sparring with him over 300 rounds. If Jacobs didn’t get the better of Derevyanchenko during their sparring sessions, it’s difficult to picture him being willing to face him. Still, Derevyanchenko has excellent punching power with either hand, and he’s coming into the contest with a lot of confidence. Jacobs has the better pedigree, but he’s coming off of a real war against Maciej Sulecki. Jacobs barely beat Sulecki. The punishment that Jacobs took in the fight against Sulecki may make him vulnerable when he gets inside the ring with the harder punching Derevyanchenko.
Golovkin wasn’t in a hurry to face Derevyanchenko on May 5. Tha’s the fight that promoter Lou DiBella was trying to get for his fighter Derevyanchenko. Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler instead went with the arguably easier fight against Vanes Martirosyan. The move backfired on GGG, as the IBF ended up stripping him of his title after he failed to commit to defend against Derevyanchenko by August 4. In hindsight, Golovkin should have fought Derevyanchenko on May 5 instead of Martirosyan. The fact that Golovkin chose not to fight Derevyanchenko is a big compliment to him, because it shows that he was hesitant in taking the challenge.
If Jacobs blows up in weight after he rehydrates, he could crush Derevyanchenko with his size. The secondary weigh-in could make it hard for Jacobs to put on enough weight to crush to stomp Derevyanchenko with his size like he’s done in the past with his smaller opponents. Some boxing fans believe Jacobs rehydrated to 190 pounds for his fight against GGG last year. With that kind of size, Jacobs will make it tough for Derevyanchenko.