Derevyanchenko wants to knockout Munguia, not let judges decide outcome

By Boxing News - 06/06/2023 - Comments

By Sean Jones: Sergiy Derevyanchenko says he intends on knocking out Jaime Munguia on Saturday to ensure that the judges don’t take away his victory, as what happened several times to him in the past in contests in the U.S.

Many boxing fans believe that the 2008 Ukrainian Olympian Derevyanchenko (14-4, 10 KOs) was robbed of victories by the judges in his fights against Daniel Jacobs in 2018, Gennadiy Golovkin in 2019, and Carlo Adames in 2022.

Now wary of the judges, Derevyanchenko, 37, wants to make sure they don’t get the chance to take another win away from him in his scheduled twelve round fight against the Golden Boy-promoted Munguia (41-0, 33 KOs) this Saturday, June 10th at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Munguia is an odd duck career-wise, with a resume consisting of only one win over a semi-decent credible opponent in Liam Smith, and the rest being lesser quality guys pulled from the bottom ranks.

Now 26, Munguia is basically just beginning his career for all intents and purposes, and his promoters are still hesitant to throw him into the deep end of the cool against the sharks.

It’s unclear how much Derevyanchenko has left after his tough fights against Charlo, Golovkin, Jacobs, and Adames. Still youthful-looking, Derevyanchenko would be trouble for the easy-to-hit, chinny Munguia if he puts hands on him as he did against GGG.

“Yeah, [Munguia] is a top fighter. I want to fight to top fighter,” said Sergiy Derevyanchenko said to Fighthype about Jaime Munguia. “In all my camps, I’m focused on my fights, and this fight is the same.

“Yeah, it is important for my career.  If I win this fight, my career will go up. I’m fighting the next level. He’s a good fighter. He has a lot of experience, and he’s a top fighter. I think it’s a good fight,” Derevyanchenko continued about Munguia.

“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Derevyanchenko said when asked if he was the best fighter Munguia had ever faced. “Yeah, I think,” said Sergiy on whether Munguia is on the same level talent-wise as Jermall Charlo and Gennadiy Golovkin.

“He showed in the ring that he’s a top fighter. [He throws] good combinations and pressures. I think, yeah,” Derevyanchenko said when asked if this was his ‘last chance’ to try and put himself in a position to win a world title.

“Every time, it’s pressure. Every day, I wake up, and it’s pressure, and I say to myself, ‘I need to go to the gym and work because I have a fight, and Munguia is a tough fighter. If I want to beat him and be better than him, I need to wake up and go train,'” said Derevyanchenko on whether he feels pressure going into his fight with Munguia on Saturday night.

“Of course, I want to win and knock him out, but I don’t want a decision because, like in my fight against Daniel Jacobs, it was a close fight, and you don’t know who wins,” said Derevyanchenko about not wanting the judges to decide the outcome of his contest against Munguia.

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