Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the works for September or October

By Will Arons - 07/13/2020 - Comments

WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) and two-time 160lb world title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko are in negotiations for a fight in September or October. No word yet on the purses or the location of the battle. But Charlo and Derevyanchenko have been fighting a lot in New York as of late, so that would make the most sense.

Jermall-Derevanchenko promises to be a war from start to finish, and this is going to be a fun fight to watch. Charlo, 30, would be getting a tough opponent after two easy jobs in his last two matches against Dennis Hogan and Brandon Adams.

Derevyanchenko is a more advanced fighter than those two, and he’s arguably more talented than Matt Korobov. That’s a fighter that many people think deserved a win against Charlo.

All we can hope for is good judging for this fight because we don’t need the Charlo and Derevyanchenko to be involved in a controversial decision. Derevyanchenko got a raw deal in his last bout against Gennadiy Golovkin on October 5 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and a lot of fans are still upset.

Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the works for September or October

Sergiy one of the many fighters that were being considered for a fight against Canelo Alvarez on September 12. Perhaps the money wasn’t right for Derevyanchenko.

“Jermall Charlo and Sergiy Derevyanchenko are in the process of finalizing a deal for a middleweight title tilt in Sept. or Oct., sources tell The Athletic. Big-time fight. Derevyanchenko was also in the running for a fight with Canelo Alvarez,” said @MikeCoppinger.

“No network revealed yet, but of course, PBC has deals with Showtime and FOX.”

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Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) will be the B-side in the fight, which means he’s going to need to either knockout Charlo or beat him in a convincing manner to where the judges can’t mess it up. They sure did make a mess of Derevyanchenko’s last fight against Golovkin last October.

Although Derevyanchenko appeared to win eight of the twelve rounds, the judges saw Golovkin as the winner. He was obviously the better known of the two, and that could have been the deciding factor in him getting the nod.

Ignoring the GGG fight, Derevyanchenko’s best wins have come against these fighters:

  • Tureano Johnson
  • Jack Culcay
  • Jessie Nicklow
  • Sam Soliman

Both of Derevyanchenko’s two defeats to GGG and Daniel Jacobs were controversial. He fought well enough to deserve a draw if not a win against Jacobs in 2018. The judges gave it to Jacobs, the A-side, by a 12 round split decision.

Under different circumstances, Derevyanchenko’s record should be 15-0 right now, not 13-2.

For his part, Charlos’ best career wins have come against these guys:

  • Austin Trout – very, very close victory for Jermall
  • Matt Korobov – controversial win
  • Cornelius Bundrage
  • Norberto Gonzalez
  • Jorge Sebastian Heiland
  • Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams