Vacant IBO/IBF Middleweight Championship Challenge
Last night’s DAZN Main Event card at Madison Square Garden in New York City between Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 Kos) and Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 Kos) was nothing short of exciting from start to finish. Real Talk!
We all know by now what “GGG” brings to the squared circle night in and night out but last night “GGG” had to dig really deep and walk through hell and back for this one. Although “GGG” came out the gate early in the first round and dropped Sergiy with a left hand for an 8 count and managed to cut Sergiy on his right eye in the second round, the remainder of the fight was not as smooth.
Sergiy “The Technician” that he is, sensing the urgency of the bout went into full attack mode from round 3 to round 12. The effective steady pressure that Sergiy applied round by round turned this bout into war and definitely caught “GGG” off-guard at times and forced him to take more head and body shots than usual.
Sergiy stuck to the “game plan” at hand and executed it beautifully. Sergiy let his hands go and forced “GGG” to fight his fight. By that point Golovkin had clearly abandoned his “game plan” and resorted to slug it out with “The Technician” by administering substantial and efficient power shots that may have swayed the Judging.
Golovkin, visibly looking tired throughout the bout, still managed to finish the championship rounds with cleaner punches and controlled aggression down the stretch.
That being said, all three Judges scored it 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112 by unanimous decision in favor of Gennady Golovkin.
It was a hell of a close fight and the fans in attendance showed their displeasure with the score cards by booing loudly and rightfully so. This was not Golovkin’s best showing but undeniably one of his toughest bouts to date.
With this win Golovkin is once again IBO/IBF Middleweight Champion of the World.
Congratulations Gennady on becoming a two-time Middleweight Champion. The “Drama Show” continues.
Blaze