By Barry Holbrook: Sergiy Derevyanchenko is already targeting Canelo Alvarez if he beats WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo in two months from now on September 26. Charlo (30-0, 22 K.O.s) and Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 K.O.s) will be fighting on Showtime pay-per-view at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville
Canelo (53-1-2, 36 K.O.s) wanted to fight Derevyanchenko next on September 12, but Sergiy chose to go in another direction. Derevyanchenko’s coach Andre Rozier preferred that he face WBC 160-lb champion Charlo rather than Canelo.
Perhaps Rozier feels that Sergiy has a better chance of winning a decision against Charlo than Canelo, who is hard to beat when he’s fighting in Las Vegas. Alvarez has a 3-0 record in controversial fights in Vegas against Gennady Golovkin x 2 and Erislandy Lara. Also, Canelo beat Austin Trout by a questionable decision in 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.
Canelo is someone that you don’t want to get into a boxing match against because he’s going to beat you with his counter-punching. Gennady Golovkin made the mistake of thinking he could beat Canelo by a decision, and it came back to haunt him.
Derevyanchenko needs to do more to beat Charlo
Against Charlo, 30, Derevyanchenko will still need to beat him conclusively, given that he’s the WBC 160lb champion. Derevyanchenko will be the B-side challenger against Charlo, and he’ll need to outwork him or score a knockout to win.
Last October, Derevyanchenko lost a controversial 12 round decision to Gennady Golovkin in New York on October 5. Looking at it from the judges’ perspective, they were likely impressed with GGG’s work rate, and the damage he did to Derevyanchenko’s face.
Additionally, Golovkin knocked Sergiy down in round one, and that factored into the judges’ rationale to give GGG the victory. If you want to beat a famous fighter like Golovkin, you must stay on your feet.
Golovkin started walking Derevyanchenko down in the second half of their fight, and he was able to land the harder shots to win over the judges. Derevyanchnko connected with many boxing punches, but you couldn’t see the damage from them the way one could from GGG’s power punches.
He had Derevyanchenko’s face looking like a bloody mess. Both of Derevyanchenko’s eyes were bruised and nearly shut by the end of the 12th round.
If Golovkin beats Canelo, thee would be a lot of interest from boxing fans in seeing the fourth fight between them in September 2021.
Derevyanchenko targeting Canelo after Jermall
“I fought one time for IBF. I want IBF,” said Derevyanchenko to A.B. Boxing News when asked which is his favorite title. “And I want WBC, and I want [the] IBF [title]. I don’t know.
“Charlo is a tough fight, a tough fighter, and we’ll see. I think it can happen, but now the concentration is on this fight [against Jermall] after we’ll see. I need this belt, and I need a win over Charlo, and after this tough fight is Canelo,” said Derevyanchenko.
A lot of boxing fans are impressed that Derevyanchenko is taking on Charlo rather than Canelo, but some people feel that he’s ducking Alvarez. With Derevyanchenko, he likely opted to go for the bigger payday against Jermall.
We don’t know how much money Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions offered Derevyanchenko to take the fight, but Billy Joe Saunders said it was a lower offer than what he made against GGG.
It wouldn’t be surprising if that turned out to be accurate, as Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya has been transparent on the idea of wanting Canelo’s opponents to not ask for too much money.
When fighters see Sergey Kovalev and Daniel Jacobs making huge money facing Canelo, they’re not as motivated to take much less. However, Kovalev was the WBO 175-lb champion when Canelo fought him last November, and Jacobs is well-known by U.S. fans.
Provided he beats Charlo, Derevyanchenko likely won’t get a chance to fight Canelo in early 2021. Canelo and Golovkin are supposed to be fighting on Cinco de Mayo in May 2021, and depending on the outcome of that fight, Canelo may choose the most prominent name possible.
That could be Derevyanchenko if he beats Charlo, but we’ll have to see.
Sergiy puts Canelo at the top of 160-pound fighters
“I think 160 is Canelo, Golovkin, Andrade, Charlo. Those are the top guys,” said Derevyanchenko. “People are strong here. It’s best for me. For me, it doesn’t matter [whether he’s main event or co-main event on September 26 card].
“It’s a beautiful fight. When I fought GGG, it was VADA. Every time for two months. Right now, no time for VADA. I don’t know. Six rounds, he was good, but afterward, he was a little bit tired, and Charlo was more [energetic],” said Sergiy when asked about Jermall’s fight against Matt Korobov in 2018.
The conventional belief is that Canelo is the #1 fighter at 160 and 168, but he’s probably never going to fight against at middleweight. At some point, Canelo has to be removed as the WBC 160lb champion.
There’s nothing you can do about Canelo holding the WBC middleweight Franchise title. That’s like an honorary thing, and the World Boxing Council will likely let him hold onto that forever. But as far s the ratings go, Canelo won’t be viewed as the #1 middleweight for too much longer if he refuses to defend his WBA and WBC titles.
Fans view the top middleweights in this order:
- Canelo Alvarez
- Jermall Charlo
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko
- Demetrius Andrade
- Ryota Murata
- Chris Eubank Jr
- Jaime Munguia
Derevyanchenko reacts to Charlo saying GGG beat him
“Every people has a white shirt for your eyes. You see the fight, and you think what you think,” said Derevyanchenko in reacting to Charlo’s comments about how he thought Golovkin beat him in their match last October. “Yeah,” said Sergiy when told that if his fight with Jermall is close, he’ll likely lose because he’s the champion. “100 percent [Derevyanchenko needs to beat Charlo decisively].
Charlo’s comments on Golovkin vs. Derevyanchenko clash
“I didn’t think Derevyanchenko won the fight against Golovkin, but he definitely made it a lot closer than people expected,” said Jermall. “It was close, but I didn’t think he won the fight.
“And it would definitely deliver a statement to the boxing world if I knock him out,” said Charlo.
It doesn’t mean much that Charlo thinks that Derevanchenko lost to Golovkin. What’s important is what the boxing public feels about the fight, and they already have made up their mind that Derevyanchenko won.
Charlo’s opinion would be given more weight right now if he wasn’t scheduled to face Derevyanchenko on September 26. The way it looks now, Charlo is trying to get in Sergiy’s head by saying that he viewed Golovkin as the winner. This is mind game stuff from Charlo, but it could also be a way for him to endear himself to Golovkin so that he’ll want to fight him.
By Charlo saying positive things about Golovkin, it can only help his chances of getting a fight against him. It’s the bigger payday for Charlo facing GGG than Derevyanchenko. Golovkin, 38, hurt his standings with the boxing public by electing not to give Derevyanchenko a rematch. GGG’s decision not to face Sergiy again is almost an admission that he lost.
If Golovkin doesn’t retire soon, we could see a rematch between him and Derevyanchenko down the road.