GENNADY GOLOVKIN WINS CONTROVERSIAL DECISION OVER SERGIY DEREVYANCHENKO
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin reclaimed the IBF middleweight championship by defeating Sergiy Derevyanchenko via unanimous decision. The official scores read 115-112 (x2) and 114-113 in favor of the new IBF champion. The result was booed heavily by those in attendance at Madison Square Garden, N.Y.
Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KO) got off to a quick start, knocking Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KO) to the canvas with a minute left in the opening round. Derevyanchenko rose to his feet with ease, not appearing to be seriously hurt by the right hand that put him down.
In the second round, Golovkin opened up a wide cut on Derevyanchenko’s right eyelid with a left hook. Golovkin continued to press the advantage for the remainder of the round, landing clean power shots on his man.
In the third however, Derevyanchenko came back nicely and landed a series of clean shots on Golovkin, who appeared to have been hurt by a body punch. Over the next couple rounds, Derevyanchenko took the fight to Golovkin and outworked him, trying to dig himself out of the hole he was in on the scorecards.
With about 20 seconds to go in the fifth round, Derevyanchenko landed a left hook to the body that forced Golovkin to retreat around the ring. Derevyanchenko tried to follow up, but was unable to do much more damage before the bell to end the round.
The later rounds saw Derevyanchenko out hustling and out landing “GGG”. Meanwhile, Golovkin was able to land hard, head-snapping shots periodically. The bigger, more impactful shots from Golovkin might have swayed some rounds in his favor on the scorecards.
Derevyanchenko continued to back Golovkin up in the championship rounds and appeared to be closing the show strongly. By the final bell, the outcome of the fight was in doubt.
Despite DAZN’s Chris Mannix and many other media members scoring the bout for Derevyanchenko, Golovkin still got the nod on the scorecards.
In the co-main event, Israil Madrimov (4-0, 4 KO) stopped Alejandro Barrera (29-6, 18 KO) via TKO in five rounds in a super welterweight bout. Madrimov, who had an extensive amateur career prior to turning pro, confused Barrera throughout with his awkward style.
In the first round, Madrimov scored a knockdown off of a leaping left hook. Barrera was able to get back up to his feet and recover, but had nothing to offer going forward.
Madrimov continued to move, creating openings for his offense. In the fifth round, he appeared to stun Barrera with a series of body punches. After seeing Madrimov land many more consecutive shots, including a big left hand to the head that hurt Barrera again, referee Benjy Esteves stepped in to stop the fight.
Also on the card was Ivan Baranchyk (20-1, 13 KO) stopping Gabriel Bracero (25-4-1, 6 KO) via TKO in four rounds to win in a super lightweight bout. This was Baranchyk’s first fight since losing to IBF super lightweight champion Josh Taylor in the World Boxing Super Series semi-final in May.
From the outset, Baranchyk swarmed Bracero, overwhelming him with pressure and power punching. Though wild and winging, Baranchyk was still able to find the mark with his punches, especially with the lead left hook.
Baranchyk eventually hurt Bracero with a left hook to the body in the fourth round, which caused Bracero to hold onto Baranchyk unsuccessfully until tumbling down. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. ruled it a knockdown, as Bracero was visibly hurt from the body shot.
Although Bracero was able to make it to his feet, his corner stepped onto the ring apron to throw in the towel just seconds after Bracero got up from the knockdown.