By Barry Holbrook: Sergiy Derevyanchenko has been approved by DAZN as potential opponent for Saul Canelo Alvarez for his next fight on October 26, according to Mike Coppinger. The negotiations are underway for Canelo to defend his IBF middleweight title against mandatory Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This venue has quickly become Canelo’s favorite place to fight in the last three years. Canelo has fought at the T-Mobile Arena in five out of his last six fights since 2016. Canelo really likes to fight at the T-Mobile. Some fans think Canelo is unbeatable when fighting at that venue, because he was involved in two controversial fights against Gennady Golovkin atthe T-Mobile. GGG is said to be against fighting Canelo in the trilogy match in Las Vegas.
Derevyanchenko likely won’t bring in subscribers for Canelo fight
DAZN surprising approved Derevyanchenko rather than rejecting him as an option for Canelo Alvarez. This is not the type of fight that will bring in a lot of subscribers to DAZN. Unless Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN do a lot of promoting for the Canelo-Derevyanchenko fight, it’s likely going to bring in only a small handful of subribers to the streaming giant. The main problem is only the hardcore boxing fans in the U.S are familiar with Derevyanchenko, and they remember his recent loss to Daniel Jacobs, and his close win over Jack Culcay.
Considering that Canelo just finished beating Jacobs, it looks bad that he’s now looking to fight a guy that was recently beaten by Danny. It looks bad on paper. The casual fans in the U.S don’t know who Derevyanchenko is, and they’re not going to get excited at the prospect of subscribing to DAZN so that they catch watch the Canelo-Derevyanchenko fight.
Canelo wouldn’t fight Derevyanchenko if not for IBF ordering it
The IBF surprised Canelo and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions recently by ordering him to defend against the 33-year-old Derevyanchenko. This was a quick move on the International Boxing Federation’s part, because it was only last April that Derevyanchenko edged Jack Culcay in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in an IBF 160 pound title eliminator. The scores were close at 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113.
The troubling aspect about the IBF making Derevyanchenko a mandatory to Canelo is the fact that the Ukrainian fighter was just beaten two fights ago by Daniel Jacobs by a 12 round split decision in a scrape for the vacant IBF 160 pound. The question that fans have is why is the IBF giving Derevyanchenko so many chances to fight for their title? If Canelo beats Derevyanchenko, will the IBF let him fight in another eliminator straightaway or will they let some of the other contenders in the top 15 get a shot at the belt?
“Sources tell…that Sergey Derevyanchenko has now been approved by DAZN as an opponent for Canelo Alvarez, and negotiations are ongoing for a middleweight championship bout that could take place Oct. 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas,” said @MikeCoppinger.
You’ve got to feel sorry for Canelo in having to fight Derevyanchenko next, because there’s not going to be a lot of interest from U.S fans in that fight. Canelo wanted to fight WBO light heavyeight champion Sergey Kovalev, but he was already lined up to defend against his mandatory Anthony Yarde on Augut 24 in Russia.
Derevyancheno now out of GGG equation for next fight
With Derevyanchenko now fighting Canelo, it leaves a void that needs to be filled for Gennady Golovkin’s next fight. Earlier on Tuesday, Jessie Vargas revealed that he’s in negotiations to fight WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia next. Munguia was one of the names that was being mentioned as a potential opponent for Gennady to fight next. The other name that was being talked about for Golovkin was Derevyanchenko, but that’s not going to happen either. With Munguia and Derevyanchenko out of the running, Golovkin may need to bite the bullet and take on a tough opponent like Jermall Charlo or Demetrius Andrade.
It’s going to be up to DAZN whether they want Golovkin to take a quality fighter next or if they’ll let him continue to fight soft fighters. We saw that in Golovkin’s first fight of his six-fight contract with DAZN last June when he destroyed obscure 35-year-old Canadian Steve Rolls in a fourth round knockout. DAZN let Golovkin fight Rolls rather than telling him that he’s got to fight good opposition. They’re paying GGG top dollar to fight on their network with the recent six-fight contract that he signed with them, but thus far the only fight they’ve gotten from hi is Rolls. That was a mismatch.
Povetkin will fight Hughie Fury on Lomachenko-Campbell card on August 31
Heavyweights Alexander Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs) and Hughie Fury (23-3, 13 KOs) will be announced this Wednesday for the August 31 undercard on the Luke Campbell vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko card at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Povetkin, 39, was originally in negotiations to fight lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, but he chose instead to face his more beatable cousin 24-year-old Hughie.
Perhaps one of the reasons why Povetkin isn’t fighting Tyson is because his promoters at Top Rank Boxing want an American heavyweight for him to fight next. Top Rank made the mistake of matching Tyson against Tom Schwarz last June, and the U.S boxing fans stayed away in droves. They weren’t interested in watching two foreign heavyweights that they’d never seen before fight live in Las Vegas or on the ESPN+ app.
You can’t blame former World Boxing Association champion Povetkin for wanting to fight the 6’6″ Hughie next rather than the 6’9″ Tyson. Povetkin is only 6’2″, and he would have a difficult time dealing with Fury’s size, reach and crafty fighting style.
“Sources tell..that Alexander Povetkin was offered a fight with Tyson Fury next month. The Olympic gold medalist declined and will instead fight Tyson’s cousin, Hughie Fury, in a fight that could land on the Loma-Campbell undercard. To clarify, Povetkin was in negotiations to fight Tyson Fury when he was offered the fight with Tyson’s cousin, Hughie Fury, which he accepted,” said @MikeCoppinger.
Povetkin has a little bit left in the tank
If Povetkin isn’t completely over-the-hill, and some boxing fans think he is, he’s going to embarrass Hughie next month. The difference in talent between Povetkin and Hughie is huge. Povetkin is light years ahead of Hughie in the talent department, and that’s not something that’s going to change by August 31 when they meet up. Despite being related to Tyson Fury, Hughie isn’t showing signs of improvement. He’s still the same fighter that struggled to beat the likes of Fred Kassi, Andry Rudenko, and he’s still the same guy that lost to Kubrat Pulev and Joseph Parker. Both of those guys beat Fury by wide scores in 2017 and 2018.