Former unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin takes on Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the vacant IBF and IBO middleweight titles at MSG.
It has been 13 months since Gennady Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) suffered his first professional loss and lost his WBC, WBA and IBO middleweight titles via majority decision to Canelo Alvarez in their rematch in Las Vegas in September of 2018.
Since his loss to Alvarez, Golovkin has only fought once, scoring a fourth-round knockout over Steve Rolls in June at Madison Square Garden.
Golovkin will be back at MSG this Saturday night in an attempt to become champion again when he takes on Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1, 10 KOs) for the vacant IBF and IBO middleweight titles.
The fight can be seen on the streaming platform DAZN, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
Can GGG make it TEN straight years with a World Title this Saturday night? ?#GGGDerevyanchenko pic.twitter.com/4hcbvAMshS
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 30, 2019
The 33-year-old Derevyanchenko is a crafty technical fighter who is best known for his close split decision loss to former middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs last October at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden. Following his loss to Jacobs, Derevyanchenko would face Jack Culcay in April in won via a unanimous decision.
This will be Dervyancjenko’s second time fighting inside the world’s most famous arena as oppose to Golovkin who will be fighting for the seventh time inside MSG.
One Day Closer ??#GGGDerevyanchenko pic.twitter.com/t2WyGJqH6S
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) October 2, 2019
The 37-year-old Golovkin talked about fighting again at MSG.
“I’m so excited! First of all, I’m happy to be back home, my second home. Thank you to my family at MSG for always supporting me. Of course, I’m very excited right now. Right now, I work with the best people from boxing.”
As expected Golovkin comes into this fight a huge favorite and though some feel it’s a forgone conclusion that he’ll win, Golovkin knows he can’t underestimate his opponent. GGG expressed the respect he has for his opponent.
“I have the best opponent, Sergiy. I’ve known him for a long time and he’s a very good fighter. This is a real fight. I’m a little bit scared because he’s good. I know his team is very strong. And I’m scared because he looks good. He looks strong. He feels it’s his time right now. Maybe – this is boxing, nobody knows. So if you want to watch a real show, a real fight, come to MSG on Oct. 5 or watch live on DAZN.”
Should Golovkin be victorious on Saturday night, not only will he become champion again, but rumors and conversations will begin again about Golovkin and Alvarez having a third fight sometime in 2020. A possible fight with WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade is another possibility as well for next year, but first, he must take care of business on Saturday night.
Expect another all-out drama show when Golovkin takes on Derevyanchenko.
Prediction: Golovkin via 10th-round KO
