Sergiy Derevyanchenko has his choice to pick between two offers from champions Canelo Alvarez and Jermall Charlo for his next fight. The more winnable fight for Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs) is believed to be talented but deeply flawed WBC middleweight champion Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs).
Whatever of the two fights pays better is the one Derevyanchenko should take. He’ll get more eyes on him if he faces Canelo than Charlo, so maybe that might make it worth going after him. If Derevyanchenko beats Canelo, he’ll get a bigger payday in the rematch, and he can get a rematch with Gennadiy Golovkin as well.
A lot of boxing fans think Derevyachenko was robbed of a win against GGG last October in New York. The judges gave it to Golovkin, but the fans worldwide saw Derevyanchenko as the winner. Golovkin chose not to give him a rematch and is instead is taking a soft fight against an unknown guy named Kamil Szeremeta.
Believe it or not, Szeremeta is the IBF’s mandatory. That’s another reason why boxing needs to get rid of all these useless titles that create a lot of boring fights with their mandatory commitments.
It’s not that Canelo (53-1-2, 36 KOs) isn’t a winnable fight as well for the body-punching Derevyanchenko, it’s just that his chances of actually getting the decision against would be lower. Canelo seems to be unbeatable when it comes to decision fights nowadays.
Before the pandemic hit, Canelo would be the way for Derevyanchenko to go if he wanted a big payday, but that not be the case now. Canelo’s next fight will be held without fans on September 12 in Las Vegas, and that could make it tough on them financially.
It’s not only hard to win a decision against Canelo, but that also may be the case with Charlo as well. Matt Korobov fought well enough to deserve a win over Charlo in December 2018. Still, instead, he went home a loser with the judges scoring it for Jermall by a comprehensive 12 round decision.
So either way, Derevyanchenko is going to have a hard time getting a decision over Charlo or Canelo. Derevyanchenko needs to be thinking knockout against these guys if he wants to win. Canelo has a bulldog-like head, and it’s not easy to hurt him. With all the upper body movement that Canelo has added to his game by apparently studying Floyd Mayweather Jr, he’s hard to hit with headshots.
Derevyanchenko will need to focus on Canelo’s body because that’s an area that he doesn’t do a perfect job of protecting. To avoid getting hit to the body, Canelo will fight with his back against the ropes in a crouched stance. For Derevyanennko to hit Canelo with body shots, he’ll need to get low as well and sit on top of him all night.
“Sergiy Derevyanchenko will fight Canelo Alvarez or Jermall Charlo in the fall, sources tell The Athletic. The middleweight has received an offer to fight Canelo at 168 pounds on Sept. 12 as well as an offer to fight Charlo for his 160-pound belt in the fall,” said Mike Coppinger.