By Sean Jones: Jermall Charlo and Sergiy Derevyanchenko are said to be finalizing a deal to fight in September or October. The undefeated Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) will have his WBC middleweight title on the line. @MikeCoppinger is the one that broke the Charlo-Derevyanchenko news.
If the Charlo vs. Dervyanchenko deal is finalized, the two will battle on either Fox or Showtime. Both guys are with Premier Boxing Champions, which means their clash will be shown on one of those two networks.
Derevyanchenko is a big step up for the 30-year-old Charlo from the lesser guys he’s been fighting since he was elevated to WBC 160-pound champion via email from the World Boxing Council.
Fans have been frustrated at the opponents that Jermall has chosen to fight both before and after he became the WBC champ. He’s said through his 11-year professional career without being tested by anyone good.
Since picking up the WBC strap, Charlo has defended it against Brandon Adams and Denis Hogan. Given the mediocre opposition that Charlo has faced as the WBC belt-holder, it’s a surprise that he’s interested in fighting a quality 160-pound contender like Derevyanchenko.
Jermall taking a risky fight
A lot of boxing fans view Jermall and his brother Jermell Charlo as champions that are only interested in milking their titles against the weakest opposition. Derevyanchenko is a real threat to Charlo, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he wins.
The Texas native Charlo has been fighting mostly in New York for some reason rather than his home state. In December 2018, Charlo beat Matt Korobov by a highly debatable decision in Brooklyn, New York. Korobov appeared to do enough to win the fight, but the judges gave it to Charlo.
The 2008 Ukrainian Olympian Derevyanchenko lost his last fight to Gennadiy Golovkin last October by a bad decision, and he doesn’t want to have that happen against Charlo.
Jermall will need to raise his game if he wants to beat Derevyanchenko because he’s not fought anyone with the technical skills that he possesses. Additionally, the body-punching ability that Derevyanchenko has going for him is going to give Charlo fits.
In Charlo’s fight against Austin Trout in 2016, he struggled and looking uncomfortable with the shots to the body he was getting hit with. Trout almost beat Charlo just by hanging in there and wethering an early storm of punches.
Charlo is one of those fighters that perform well early on, and then he fades in the second half of his matches.
Derevyanchenko with a good chance of winning
Boxing fans believe that Derevyanchenko has a better chance of beating Charlo than he does Canelo. That’s why many of them are pleased with the news of Derevyanchenko possibly taking on Jermall for his WBC title. They don’t think Sergiy would be given a fair shake in the scoring if he took on Canelo.
Jermall and his twin brother Jermell are flawed, and they get by with their power. The match-making that’s been done for Jermall has massively helped him because he likely would have lost to Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez if he’d fought them.
Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) was in the running for a match against Canelo Alvarez for September 12, but it looks like they didn’t come up with an offer that was to Derevyanchenko’s liking.
It’s possible that Golden Boy Promotions were never seriously interested in putting a deal together between Derevyanchenko in the first place. It would be a really hard fight for Canelo, and that wouldn’t work out well for him. Canelo wants to fight twice this year in September and December.
If Alvarez were to take a difficult match against Derevyanchenko in September, then it would jeopardize his fight in December. It’s smart for Canelo to make a soft opponent for his next bout so it would improve his chances of slipping in a second bout in December.
One likely reason why Canelo needs to fight at least twice this year is that it keeps him on schedule to finish his 11-fight, $365 million contract with DAZN. Once that’s finished, Canelo will likely get a new longterm deal from DAZN or one of the other network platforms.
Jermall will need to raise his game
With Derevyanchenko out of the running for the Canelo fight, we’ll likely see Golden Boy choose a cheaper alternative that won’t give him any problems. Tureano Johnson, Jason Quigley, and John Ryder are three of the names that have been mentioned as options for Canelo’s September fight.
For Derevyanchenko to get a title shot against Charlo, it means that he and his management believe he can win. Jermall’s management is very calculated in the type of opponents they select for him. They wouldn’t have picked Derevyanchenko if they weren’t almost dead sure that he can win.
Derevyanchenko can spoil the party if he takes the fight to the inside, and batters Charlo to the body. He’s going to need to take a lot of big shots from Jermall though, as he can punch and he has an excellent jab.