According to stories from ESPN and Sports Illustrated – as well as from Mike Coppinger via twitter – Gennady Golovkin and Sergiy Derevyanchenko have agreed to fight and the two will duel for the vacant IBF middleweight title on October 5 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight to go out on DAZN.
According to these reports, an official press conference announcement will go ahead tomorrow, with Eddie Hearn present on behalf of GGG. The IBF belt was of course stripped from Canelo Alvarez for not agreeing to fight Derevyanchenko (or to be more accurate, Canelo was let down by his team, who failed to get the fight done in time; Canelo upset and angered over his losing one of his treasured belts as a result.)
So now Golovkin – who feels like an unbeaten fighter – will get the opportunity to regain one of the titles he lost, controversially, to the Mexican star. Derevyanchenko has battled long and hard to fulfil his dream of becoming a world champ and he has won one bout since dropping a close decision to Danny Jacobs in his sole pro setback; the Jacobs battle being an exciting and action-filled affair.
GGG, meanwhile, has beaten Steve Rolls, in his DAZN debut, since dropping that very close and debatable decision to Canelo in their return clash. We could get a good fight on October 5, with both challengers for the available strap refusing to give an inch. Golovkin will no doubt step out as a considerable favourite to win, seeing how he is the the star fighter of the two and the far more accomplished fighter. Yet at age 37, there is always the chance Triple-G could feel his age at any given time. Golovkin has had a long career or careers, we must not forget.
A tough, perhaps quite gruelling distance fight does look a strong possibility here. However, If Golovkin can score the KO, he will receive plenty of credit and reaffirm his prowess as a top, top middleweight. While if Derevyanchenko can score a shock KO, or a decision win, he will be sitting on cloud nine.
With Canelo still to decide what his next move will be (eyeing as he is the result of the upcoming Sergey Kovalev-Anthony Yarde fight), it’s up to Golovkin and Derevyanchenko to give us a great middleweight title fight. Let’s hope they can do it.