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By: Hans Themistode
It’s time to eat. Both literally and figuratively.
WBC titlist Jermall Charlo and his Pay-Per-View headlining opponent in Sergiy Derevyanchenko tipped the scale’s weighing nearly the exact same earlier today.
The challenger in Derevyanchenko stepped onto the scale first. A hyped up Charlo stood in the background shirtless as he applauded the results of opponent as he came in at 159½ pounds. Next up was the undefeated champion. He also made weight with ease, registering at 159¾.
For Derevyanchenko, he’s faced a murderer’s row of competition over his last few fights. In back to back years, the Ukrainian native found himself in title contests against two of the best middleweights in the world in Daniel Jacobs and Gennadiy Golovkin.
Despite facing two different styles, both contests were eerily similar. Derevyanchenko was forced to hear the sound of the referee counting as early knockdown’s left him down on the scorecards early. The Brooklyn, New York, resident did, however, dust himself off and work like hell to pull himself back into both matchups.
For the most part, it worked as he began exploiting plenty of holes in the defense of his opponents. Yet, it was a case of too little too late as he came up short on the judge’s scorecards.
But while Derevyanchenko has been matched tough over his short career, Charlo on the other hand, has been criticized for his Charmin Soft opponents.
The Houston native will do more than just attempt to defend his title for the fourth time. He’ll also look to defend his name and prove that he is in fact one of the best fighters in the world.
Matchups against the likes of Dennis Hogan, Hugo Centeno Jr., and Jorge Heiland may have netted him a spot on ESPN’s perpetual highlight reel loop, but his credibility was taking a hit in the eyes of the fans. Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs) continually called out other big-name fighters such as Canelo Alvarez and Golovkin, but no one took the bait.
In Derevyanchenko (13-2, 10 KOs), Charlo has a consensus top five fighter in the division and someone whom he can showcase his skills against. While fans of Charlo have questioned his ability against top level opposition, oddsmakers have fully supported him. He’s currently listed as a near 3-1 favorite to hear “And Still,” uttered when his contest comes to an end.
For Charlo, he kept things simple when asked to sum up how he feels about this matchup a few days ago during a presser.
“I’m the best in the world. You’ll see Saturday night.”
The action for this card kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, with the Pay-Per-View costing $74.95.
