Round 12
Very nice work from Golovkin with clean accurate punches to the head and body, but every time he’s able to land in combination Derevyanchenko is so quick in response. These are hard rounds. Golovkin snaps Derevyanchenko’s neck back with a left jab and now he’s bullying his opponent in the center of the ring, stepping forward to quell his combinations. Golovkin doing just enough to win the round, but the scores could be all over the place. Simply gripping, really. The fight of the year.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 115-112 Derevyanchenko)
Round 11
A bloodied Derevyanchenko is barreling inside throwing punches but Golovkin is fighting off the back foot, trying to catch him with short chopping punches on the way in. Easier said than done. Derevyanchenko connects with a big hook on Golovkin, but Golovkin is scoring with the jab and doing enough in my view to edge the round. Derevyanchenko landing the showier shots but Golovkin, though he’s looking his age tonight, is very much in it with a round to go.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 105-103 Derevyanchenko)
Round 10
Derevyanchenko comes out cracking in the 10th, landing a flurry of shots to the head and body while coming forward. Golovkin lands a combination upstairs and Derevyanchenko responds immediately. It all just keeps coming back. The crowd tries to urge Golovkin on with chants of “Triple G! Triple G!” Derevyanchenko is coming forward landing blow after blow to the head and body, but Golovkin stays in and holds his ground. Extraordinary and gruesome two-way action as the fighters trade hellfire in the center of the ring. Genuinely breathtaking.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 9-10 Derevyanchenko (GGG 95-94 Derevyanchenko)
Round 9
A heat-seeking uppercut by Golovkin lands to open the ninth, but Derevyanchenko takes it well. Now the bloodied Derevyanchenko is opening up and throwing punches as Golovkin moves back in full retreat. He’s outthrowing and outlanding Golovkin in this round, who appears to be fading. A big round for Derevyanchenko.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 9-10 Derevyanchenko (GGG 86-84 Derevyanchenko)
Round 8
A good, measured start for Derevyanchenko, who’s scoring with angles and activity as Golovkin starts slow. Then Golovkin bounces a series off hard punches off Derevyanchenko’s head and the crowd buzzes, sensing a finish. But just as Derevyanchenko is spinning out of trouble, Golovkin takes his foot off the gas. Still, he’s landing the more telling blows, but that was a razor-close round.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 77-74 Derevyanchenko)
Round 7
Derevyanchenko continues to stand his ground and throw crisp combinations to the head and body. A big right hand by Golovkin followed by a left to the body. Golovkin resumes cutting off the ring and Derevyanchenko escapes the corners with smart footwork and volume punching. This is a dogfight. Two-way action in the center of the ring and both make their stands. This was Golovkin’s best round in some time: he’s landing more and he appears to have got his second wind. Derevyanchenko still bleeding badly from this cut and you have to wonder if it will go to the cards sooner than later. And now the doctor is taking another hard look at the cut … and sends him out for the eighth.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 67-65 Derevyanchenko)
Round 6
Derevyanchenko is beginning to pour on the punishment with these body shots. He’s outboxing Golovkin. A big right over the top by Golovkin but Derevyanchenko cracks right back. Another big right by Golovkin, but every time he connects Derevyanchenko is there to throw back punches in bunches. Golovkin being pushed like we’ve rarely seen.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 9-10 Derevyanchenko (GGG 57-56 Derevyanchenko)
Round 5
The commission has ruled Golovkin’s cut came from an accidental headbutt, which makes things awfully interesting as the fight would go to the scorecards if it were stopped due to the wound. Both guys having good moments in the fifth. GGG with an uppercut is a few nice hooks, but Derevyanchenko is busier. And Derevyanchenko hurts Golovkin with a devastating left to the body set up by a left-right combo upstairs. Golovkin is hurt! And the referee breaks it up for no reason. He’s backed up the punch in the final seconds of the round so Derevyanchenko won’t have time to follow up.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 9-10 Derevyanchenko (GGG 48-46 Derevyanchenko)
Round 4
Golovkin lands a four-punch combination to the body, followed by a left upstairs as he continues to target the cut on Derevyanchenko’s right eye. Derevyanchenko showing a great chin taking these punches. He’s moving forward and pressing the action. Now he lands a left-right combo to the head that appeared to stop Golovkin in his tracks. But Golovkin lands a big right to the chin near the end of the frame. He’s getting the better of the exchanges even as he takes a lot of punishment. The doctor at ringside takes a looong look at the cut on Derevyanchenko’s eye before letting him go out for the fifth.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 39-36 Derevyanchenko)
Round 3
Derevyanchenko may sense time is running out with that cut because he comes out guns blazing in the third, bursting into the pocket and letting his hands go. A big exhange near the ropes that Derevyanchenko got the better of. He hurts Golovkin with a body shot, but Golovkin cracks right back with a left hook. Derevyanchenko did some great body work in that round and is throwing from an impressive variety of angles. He’s certainly got Golovkin’s attention.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 9-10 Derevyanchenko (GGG 29-27 Derevyanchenko)
Round 2
Golovkin is snapping that left hand as he darts forward, but Derevyanchenko has been very aggressive and is throwing back and there appears to be a little marking under Golovkin’s left eye. But Golovkin now backing up Derevyanchenko with the jab. GGG connects with a few left hooks. Derevyanchenko has a cut on his right eye and he’s bleeding. Badly.
Guardian’s unofficial score: GGG 10-9 Derevyanchenko (GGG 20-17 Derevyanchenko)
Derevyanchenko down in round one!
Round 1
Big chants of “Triple G! Triple G!” from the crowd as the opening bell rings. Golovkin is working from the center of the ring and trying to establish the left jab as Derevyanchenko circles, pawing with his own jab. Derevyanchenko tries to come over the top with a right hand but it gets mostly leather. Golovkin is advancing and throwing the hook. He lands a big left hook and they’re in a firefight. And down goes Derevyanchenko in the first on a left hand! He beats the count and is saying he was hit behind the head but it looked like a clean punch from ringside. Derevyanchenko is back on his feet and looks fine: he’s moving forward and throwing more punches.
Derevyanchenko makes his way to the ring to a medley of Ozzy’s Crazy Train and Queen’s We Will Rock You. He looks all business. Now it’s Golovkin’s turn as he makes his familiar entrance to Seven Nation Army. Ring announcer Michael Buffer takes handles the fighter interoductions and the two meet at the center of the ring for the final instructions from referee Harvey Dock. They return to their corners, the seconds are out and we’ll pick it up with round-by-round updates from here!
After a bit of a delay it’s go time at Madison Square Garden. First it’s the national anthem of Ukraine, then Kazakhstan and finally the United States. Big cheers for Golovkin as he’s shown pacing in his dressing room during Menin Qazaqstanym. Brennyn Lark, currenly slaying as Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Mis, delivers a rousing rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Even bigger cheers for Wesley Snipes as he’s shown watching from ringside. And it’s another delay with Michael Buffer standing in the center of the ring waiting for his cue … but the fighters should be making their entrances any moment now.
Junior middleweight pospect Israil Madrimov has just scored an emphatic fifth-round stoppage of Mexico’s Alejando Barrera in the final undercard bout of the night. Madrimov, who improves to 4-0 with four knockouts (in addition to a 6-1 mark in his World Series of Boxing pro bouts), dropped Barrera in the opening seconds and dominated every minute before referee Benjy Esteves put a stop to it at the 2:36 mark of the fifth round. A bit of grumbling from the crowd for what some viewed as a premature stoppage but better too soon than too late.
Tale of the tape
Hello and welcome to New York for tonight’s middleweight title fight between Gennady Golovkin and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. We’re ringside at the Garden for what promises to be an entertaining contest for the vacant IBF championship, even if it’s not the long-awaited third chapter between Golovkin and Canelo Álvarez.
As you may recall Golovkin suffered the lone blemishes on his pro ledger in a pair of close and controversial decisions opposite Álvarez, who’s appeared in no hurry to tee it up a third time (instead scaling two weight classes to fight Sergey Kovalev). That’s left Triple G to his own devices in the middleweight division he’s dominated for so long, first with a stay-busy fight against the overmatched Steve Rolls in June and now tonight in a contest that could prove far more tricky.
Derevyanchenko, who fought alongside Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk on Ukraine’s 2012 Olympic team, suffered his first and only professional loss in a title fight against Daniel Jacobs in November where he showed quite well. He’s a game competitor and is well-positioned to spring an upset if Golovkin has lost anything off his fastball.
Here’s a look at how the fighters match up.
Updated
