By Sean Jones: Lou DiBella is siding with Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) to rip the title away from WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) this Saturday night in their doubleheader match on SHOWTIME pay-per-view.
Derevyanchenko is a slower starter, DiBella says, and it’s going to be essential for him not to give away too many of the early rounds for him to have a chance of dethroning the 30-year-old Charlo.
Charlo and the #1 WBC ranked contender Derevyanchenko will be fighting without fans present at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The event goes for $74.95 on Showtime PPV, but there are some excellent fights for that money. Besides Charlo-Derevyanchenko, boxing fans will get a chance to see Jermell Charlo defend his WBC junior middleweight title against IBF/WBA champion Jeison Rosario.
That’s a pick-em fight, as Charlo has already been beaten, and he’s proven to be vulnerable against smart fighters that can control their emotion. That’s something Jermell is poor at doing.
Jermall hasn’t fought anyone like Derevyanchenko
“He’s never fought anyone as good as Sergiy,” said DiBella to Secondsout about Jermall never having fought anyone as talented as Derevyanchenko. “Look, Sergiy knows what he has to do, and his trainers have been all over him.
‘He’s always since I first started promoting him has had a habit of starting slowly. He is a technician, so it’s like he’s in the ring, and he’s assessing his opponents, and he’s taking it a little slow. But he’s been a little sloppy early in his fights, and he’s gotten dropped a few times early.
“Not badly hurt but dropped. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re not badly hurt. If you get dropped, it’s a 10-8 round, and you’re two points down on the scorecard. The other thing too is he’s got to assess a little bit quicker because he can’t give away rounds against the very best guys.
“So the big key for him is to start quickly and not get caught early. The longer the fight goes, the more difficult it’ll be for Charlo. If Sergiy never hits the canvas and the fight goes the distance, he’s going to win unless the judging sucks, and I hope it doesn’t,” DiBella said.
Jermall’s best opponents during his 12-year pro career have been Julian Williams, Austin Trout, Matt Korobov, and Cornelius Bundrage. The rest of the guys that Jermall has fought have been just regular Joe type of lower-level fighters.
The management for Jermall and his twin brother Jermell have been careful with them, keeping them away from the dangerous fighters up until now. That’s a good thing as they’ve both made a lot of money and have big homes.
If Derevyanchenko can apply a lot of pressure on Charlo throughout the fight, he’s got an excellent chance of winning. Where things went wrong for the 2008 Olympian Derevyanchenko against Jacobs and Golovkin was in the early rounds when he wasn’t forcing the fight.
Charlo will likely have the favorable scoring for any close rounds, and that’s going to put pressure on Derevyanchenko to fight harder than he usually would. He’s got to impress these judges, who may give Charlo the benefit of the doubt most of the time.
Sergiy could have beaten GGG and Jacobs
“We need fair judging in this fight,” said DiBella on the Charlo vs. Derevyanchenko clash. “My heart was breaking when I was with Sergiy in the hospital after the [Gennadiy Golovkin] fight.
“Golovkin was in the hospital getting checked out also. By the way, he was looking worse than Sergiy did. I really thought Sergiy won the fight. But more importantly, Sergiy was crestfallen because it was the second time he fought where the whole promotion hadn’t been favorable to him.
“He could have won either fight with Danny Jacobs and GGG. with GGG; I think the majority of the people that watched thought he got the better of GGG. I just want to make sure that the right guy wins next Saturday. The judging has been so uneven during this pandemic with no crowds.
“The A-sides seem to be very advantaged, and I’m hoping three times a charm for Sergiy and not three times of regret if he fights the right fight and wins. If Charlo wins, Charlo wins. The Charlos are really good fighters. I’m not sitting here telling you that Sergiy is definitely winning the fight.
“It’s a hell of a fight. I am telling you that Sergiy can win, and I’m also telling you that if it goes the distance, I’m giving the edge to Sergiy. But that’s only if the judges are fair.
“I sort of like the three fights and then a break, and then three fights a little bit. It’s sort of cool. I think the boxing fans that order it, they’re going to enjoy it,” said DiBella.
Derevyanchenko fought well enough to beat both Gennadiy Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs in his matches against those two fighters. As DiBella points out, Golovkin and Jacobs are far better fighters than anyone that Jermall has fought.
The fact Derevyanchenko fought well enough to deserve victories over both of those talented guys says a lot about him.
PPV price should have been lower
“To be sitting here b***** on the pay-per-view with honestly these are the two best fights with the Charlo brother fights that are scheduled for Saturday,” DiBella said.
“These are the two best fights in the United States since the pandemic started, and they’re on the same pay-per-view, and there are six fights on it.
“Would it have been nice if they had priced it $10 to $15 less as a sign that they recognize there are a pandemic, and people are struggling? It would have been nice, but they also have to make the event work economically.
“You don’t have to buy it if you don’t want to. So all the salines about the price are sort of ridiculous. I’d rather talk about the fights, which I feel are excellent fights. The Charlo brothers are twins, they’re brash, and they’ve got a lot of p*** and vinegar.
“If they can win these two fights and establish that they can do some core level of pay-per-view buys, they could become attractions. So it’s an important night for them. Let me tell you.
‘These other two opponents are not dancing with the stars. one of the things that I don’t like about the commercials they’ve been running is the commercials are all about the Charlo brothers.
“They’re fighting two championship level, guys. Derevyanchenko has been in the ring with two guys that are better than anyone Charlo has ever fought. The other Charlo [Jermell]; the dude he’s facing, has been knocking guys out fight after fight. These are no joke, these fights,” said DiBella.
Most boxing fans would agree that the timing is poor for the organizers of the Charlo brothers doubleheader to be priced at $75 per household. With the U.S going through a terrible pandemic and high unemployment, selling the event at this price was a highly questionable move.
What is guaranteed is that many boxing fans will be priced out and won’t be able to afford it. Unfortunately, many of those fans will resort to other methods for watching the fight, such as illegal streams or only waiting until an hour after the event for most exciting battles to be posted on Youtube.
