GOLOVKIN ATTEMTPS TO REGAIN WORLD TITLE VS DEREVYANCHENKO

On Saturday night, former unified middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will challenge for the vacant IBF world title against mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko at Madison Square Garden, New York City, in what will be Golovkin’s second fight since losing to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Sept 2018.

In June 2019, Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KO) returned to the ring to rebound from the Alvarez defeat against Steve Rolls. Golovkin dominated and knocked out Rolls inside four rounds, victorious in his first outing for DAZN.

Golovkin winning a world title on Saturday night could help market a potential rubber match with Alvarez. Alvarez is currently preparing to challenge Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev for his WBO light heavyweight title on November 02nd.

Derevyanchenko’s last ring outing was a unanimous decision win against Jack Culcay in April. The victory over Culcay placed the Ukranian fighter to number one in the IBF rankings, setting him up for the title opportunity against the number three rated Golovkin.

In October of last year, Derevyanchenko challenged for a then-vacant IBF title against Daniel Jacobs. Jacobs outpointed Derevyanchenko via split decision and then lost the title to Canelo in May. Canelo was eventually stripped of the IBF belt after extensive negotiations to set up a fight with mandatory challenger Derevyanchenko fell through.

The co-headliner on Saturday night’s card will feature former world title challenger Ivan Baranchyk taking on Gabriel Bracero in a super lightweight attraction.

Baranchyk (19-1, 12 KO) is probably best known for his participation in the World Boxing Super Series tournament at 140 lbs. The upcoming fight against Bracero will be Baranchyk’s first bout since losing to England’s Josh Taylor at the WBSS semi-final in May.

The Belorussian fighter fought a competitive fight against Taylor, but was simply outdone by Taylor, losing a unanimous decision. Taylor will meet WBA super lightweight champion Regis Prograis in the WBSS final on Oct. 26.

Bracero (25-3-1, 6 KO) is coming off of a fifth round knockout victory over Artemio Reyes in July. The Brooklyn native is most known for his ring appearance against two-division world champion Paulie Malignaggi in July of 2016. Malignaggi outpointed Bracero via unanimous decision.

Also featured on the card is Israil Madrimov taking on Alejandro Barrera in a junior middleweight bout.

Madrimov (3-0, 3 KO), from Uzbekistan, has had a relatively fast start to his professional career, starting at 23-years old. Most of his experience came from the Eastern European amateur boxing scene.

The last outing for Madrimov was a sixth-round TKO against Norberto Gonzalez in June, on the undercard of Golovkin’s last appearance against Steve Rolls. Gonzalez has losses against the likes of Erickson Lubin, Terrell Gausha and current WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo.

Barrera (29-5, 18 KO) is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Adames in May at Madison Square Garden. The Mexican pugilist is likely most known for his TKO loss against Errol Spence Jr. in 2015.