NEW YORK – September 21, 2020 – Top contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko believes that his combination of skills and experience will make him the toughest challenge that WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo has faced in his career, as they near their showdown this Saturday, September 26 headlining part one of CHARLO DOUBLEHEADER, a SHOWTIME PPV event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
“I’ll definitely be his toughest test at middleweight,” said Derevyanchenko. “Jermall has never faced anyone like me. I’ll apply more pressure than he’s used to. He’s also never faced anyone with my footwork. I’ll fight more on the inside than his previous opponents.”
Derevyanchenko sports a 13-2 pro record with 10 knockouts, following an extensive amateur career that included representing his native Ukraine at the 2008 Olympics as part of his 390-20 overall ledger. A pro since 2014, Derevyanchenko’s experience in the amateurs has aided him as he climbed up the middleweight division in the paid ranks.
“My amateur experience has helped me a lot,” said Derevyanchenko. “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.”
The 34-year-old now lives in Brooklyn and has avoided any negative training impact of the pandemic by working with his head trainer Andre Rozier at their private gym in New Jersey. September 26 will be Derevyanchenko’s third world title fight, after losing a narrow decision to Gennadiy Golovkin last October and a split decision against Daniel Jacobs in 2018. Each of his previous title fights have presented different experiences that he can take into the Charlo fight, based off the similarities and differences between the opponents.
“Golovkin is a very different fighter than Charlo, but Jacobs is similar stylistically, so that’s something I’ll be used to,” said Derevyanchenko. “This training camp has been very similar to camps for my previous fights though. We just brought in different sparring partners for this one. We’re using fighters who can show us what Charlo will bring to the ring.
“We’re making necessary adjustments based off all our experience and developing a game plan specifically for Charlo. The sparring partners have been giving me great work and I’m absolutely ready for September 26.”
In both of his title opportunities, Derevyanchenko has suffered a knockdown in the first round, only to battle back and nearly win the fight. Despite the similar script, Derevyanchenko is not focusing on those opening round mistakes as he prepares for Charlo.
“I’ll be very focused in the early rounds against Charlo, we’re not dwelling on the past,” said Derevyanchenko. “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.”
With fight week here and the bulk of the hard training behind him, Derevyanchenko is prepared for the challenge Charlo presents, no matter how the fight goes or which strategy Charlo enters the ring with.
“I’m not solely focused on the fight going one certain way, we just have our game plan and we’ll see what happens in the ring,” said Derevyanchenko. “If I can knock him out, I’ll be ready to go for it. But if it goes 12 rounds, I have all of the skills to win a decision.”
#
ABOUT CHARLO DOUBLEHEADER
The CHARLO DOUBLEHEADER takes place Saturday, September 26 on SHOWTIME PPV with an unprecedented event presented by Premier Boxing Champions. The PPV begins at a special time of 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT and features six compelling fights in all, five of which are world title fights, on the same night for one price. The SHOWTIME PPV telecast begins with the Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko three-fight card followed by a 30-minute intermission and then the Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario three-fight card.
Part one of the SHOWTIME PPV is headlined by WBC Middleweight Champion Jermall Charlo facing top contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko. WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Brandon Figueroa will defend his title against 122-pound contender Damien Vázquez in the co-featured bout, while WBO Bantamweight World Champion John Riel Casimero faces off against unbeaten Duke Micah in the pay-per-view opener.
The second three-fight card is headlined by the historic unification matchup between WBC Super Welterweight Champion Jermell Charlo and IBF and WBA 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario. Unbeaten former champion Luis Nery will battle undefeated Aaron Alameda for the vacant WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship in the co-feature, while former unified champion Danny Román faces off against former champion Juan Carlos Payano in a WBC Super Bantamweight title eliminator bout to open the second installment of the pay-per-view.
The event is presented by Premier Boxing Champions and promoted by Lions Only Promotions and TGB Promotions. The Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario match is co-promoted with Sampson Boxing.
For more information visit www.SHO.com/sports, www.PremierBoxingChampions.com, follow on Twitter @ShowtimeBoxing, @PremierBoxing, @TGBPromotions or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOBoxing
