By Arne K. Lang
The billboards adopted Gennady Golovkin's "Big Drama Show" catchphrase and the fight lived up to its billing. When the smoke cleared Golovkin prevailed on a unanimous but controversial decision. The scores were 114-113 and 115-112 twice.
In the opening round, Golovkin knocked his Ukrainian adversary down with a hard right hand following a pair of left hooks. During the second round, Derevyanchenko suffered a bad gash over his right eye (originally thought to be caused by a headbutt). At that point, it appeared that it would be clear sailing for GGG in his quest to begin a new run as a world middleweight title-holder. But hold the phone.
Derevyanchenko clawed his way back into the fight. In round 5 he hurt GGG with a body shot and outworked GGG in many of the ensuing rounds, many of which admittedly were difficult to score. Many of the reporters on press row thought the Ukrainian had done just enough to pull the fight out of the fire.
GGG improved to 40-1-1 but his performance suggested that Father Time was catching up to him. Derevyanchenko, whose lone previous loss was by split decision to Daniel Jacobs, falls to 13-2.
Undercard
All seven preliminaries ended inside the distance which wasn't entirely unexpected.
In his fourth pro fight, Uzbekistani junior middleweight Israil Madrimov did his best Vasyl Lomachenko impression while forging a fifth-round stoppage of Mexico’s spunky but ultimately out-gunned Alejandro Barrera (29-6). Madrimov knocked Barrera down minutes into the fight. He then put on a clinic, constantly switching from orthodox to southpaw, until the ref had seen enough. He ended his performance Lomachenko-style by doing a back flip in the ring. He’s an exceptional talent.
Ivan Baranchyk, in his first fight back since losing a 12-round decision on enemy turf to Scotland’s Josh Taylor, stopped Gabriel Bracero in the fourth round. Baranchyk, the “Beast from Belarus,” rattled Bracero continuously and eventually knocked him down, prompting Bracero’s corner to toss in the towel. Baranchyk improved to 20-1 with his 13[SUP]th[/SUP] knockout. This looks like the end of the line for Bracero (25-4-1), a 38-year-old Brooklynite whose career has been frequently interrupted by legal problems.
Super middleweight Ali Akhmedov, a 24-year-old Kazakhstani stablemate of Gennady Golovkin, needed only 44 seconds to dismiss Andrew Hernandez. A harsh right hand put Hernandez on the deck and he was all at sea when he righted himself, forcing the stoppage. Akhmedov improves to 16-0 (12). Hernandez, from Phoenix, falls to 20-8-2.
Local fan favorite Brian Ceballo, a welterweight, was in easy against Ramal Amanov, a 35-year-old Azerbaijani who entered the contest sporting a misleading 16-0 record. Ceballo (11-0, 6 KOs) took charge from the get-go en route to forging a third-round stoppage.
Polish middleweight Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5 KOs) won his U.S. debut with a second-round stoppage of Mexico’s Oscar Cortes in a match slated for eight rounds. Szeremeta dropped Cortes (27-5) with a left hook late in the opening frame and ended matters in the second with an overhand right.
Brooklyn’s hot super middleweight prospect Nikita Ababiy continues to turn heads. Abibay stopped Isiah Seldon (13-2-1 going in) in the opening round, discombobulating Seldon with a left hook that forced a quick stoppage. As a pro, Abibay (7-0, 6 KOs) has answered the bell for only 13 rounds.
The professional debut of Irish light heavyweight Joe Ward could not have gone any worse. Late in the first minute of the second round, Ward’s left leg buckled as he was backing away from a punch, knocking him out of commission with a painful knee injury. It goes into the books as a TKO 2 for California’s Marco Delgado (6-1, 5 KOs).
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