Making the Rounds: Derevyanchenko out to take Charlo's belt; Showtime PPV's ridiculous cost
Sergiy Derevyanchenko is one of those talented fighters who wins just about every time except when it matters most.
He was 390-20 as an amateur and competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, representing Ukraine. He won his opening round match but was eliminated in the second round.
That was a theme of his amateur career. His only major amateur medal, despite all of that winning he did, was a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago.
As a pro, he’s 13-2 with 10 knockouts, but his two defeats came in his only two title fights, to Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin.
On Saturday (7 p.m. ET, Showtime PPV) in the main event at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, Derevyanchenko will get what may be his last crack at gold when he challenges Jermall Charlo for the WBC middleweight title.
At the MGM Grand Sports Book, Charlo is -170, while Derevyanchenko is +140.
The 34-year-old hasn’t been the busiest pro, but believes all the fights he had in the amateur ranks are significant.
“My amateur experience has helped me a lot,” he said. “I came to the pros with much more experience in the ring than most other fighters and it’s been a big part of what I’ve accomplished. I believe that all of that experience will help me get the win on Saturday and take Charlo’s belt.”
Derevyanchenko knows he needs to get off to a quick start against Charlo. He was dropped in the first round against both Jacobs and Golovkin.
He went on to give Golovkin fits in what turned out to be an incredible fight. Even the news that came out following that bout that Golovkin had been sick all week did not diminish the excitement that surrounded Derevyanchenko’s effort in pushing Golovkin to the brink.
Even though he lost, he wants to ride that momentum into the bout with Charlo.
“I’ll be very focused in the early rounds against Charlo,” Derevyanchenko said. “We’re not dwelling on the past. We always have an eye looking forward. I’ll try to get the win faster against Charlo, so we’ll be applying more pressure early.
“Those first-round knockdowns were just brief moments in those fights. I quickly moved on, put them behind me and fought my way back into it. I told myself that I may have lost the first round, but I just had to be better in the remaining rounds.”
PPV price sky high
The Showtime pay-per-view card is priced ridiculously high at $74.95, which all but guarantees that it will be extremely lucky to hit 100,000 buys.
It’s a solid card, but there is no can’t-miss fight on it or a fight that people have been begging for. A lot of the card’s expectations center around the hopes that the public will buy into the Charlo twins as the next big thing in boxing.
That hasn’t occurred so far and it’s unlikely to occur on Saturday. Though Jermall Charlo holds the WBC middleweight title, it’s Canelo Alvarez and Golovkin who are regarded as Nos. 1-2 in the division.
Jermell Charlo, who faces Jeison Rosario for the WBC, WBA and IBF super welterweight titles on the card, is probably the top 154-pounder in the world, but there are no big names like Alvarez or Golovkin there.
The show would have been far more attractive at $40. At $75, it blows away just about any chance of the winners gaining a lot of momentum off of their bouts on Saturday.
Ennis impresses big-time
Jaron Ennis stopped veteran Juan Carlos Abreu on Saturday at Mohegan Sun in a highly impressive performance that was televised live on Showtime.
How impressive was he? Well, so much so that I think he’s neck-and-neck with Vergil Ortiz as the best welterweight prospect in the world.
Ennis is 26-0 with 24 knockouts and is going to be a favorite in this division for a long time.
It would be great to see a fight between Ennis and Ortiz, though that is highly unlikely to occur, at least not in the near future.
‘Panama’ Lewis dead at 74
Veteran trainer Carlos “Panama” Lewis, who possessed a brilliant boxing mind, died Monday at 74.
Lewis, of course, won’t be known so much for his genius as a boxing tactician but for his role in one of the most despicable acts in boxing history.
On June 16, 1983, Lewis removed the padding from Luis Resto’s gloves before Resto fought unbeaten Billy Collins Jr. Resto was a journeyman and Collins was heavily favored.
Resto, though, delivered a frightful beating to Collins. Later, it was learned Lewis had taken the padding out of the gloves. Neither Resto nor Collins ever fought again and Collins died in a car accident his family said was the result of drinking brought on by the depression he suffered from the Resto bout.
Resto years later admitted Lewis tampered with the gloves and said he also soaked his hand wraps in plaster of Paris.
Lewis vehemently denied the allegations, but they never left him and he died in disgrace.
He said it
“Derevyanchenko is a come-forward fighter. He’s going to bring a lot of power and speed with good technical skills. He calls himself ‘The Technician,’ but we’ll see how technical he is once I start putting my jab in his face. I’m going to use all my natural skills in this fight.” — WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo
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