This is the hardest fight for me to predict this weekend as it really is so even and a real 50/50. Jermall Charlo hasn’t been fighting the best competition since moving to 160 due to politics in boxing and hes looked average versus the people he has fought for various reasons. Sergiy Derevyanchenko has been fighting the top guys at 160 for the last few years but in his two big world title fights hes come up just short.
Jermall Charlo doesn’t throw a lot of punches but is accurate with what he throws. He seems to have good power though its not as significant at Middleweight as it was at 154. He can be made to miss sometimes but most of the time hes very accurate. He has good uppercuts and a good right hand which he uses in a variety of ways. He’s got decent defence but he isn’t hugely hard to hit though he’ll make you pay when you hit him. He’s got good stamina and comes on strong late in fights which he needs to do because hes sometimes a slow starter.
He has a nice jab which he pulls back quickly and can fight on both the front and back foot. He has a good chin and has never been dropped as far as i’m aware. I think he’ll be very motivated for this fight and will probably perform better than his other fights at middleweight because hes finally getting a big fight.
Sergiy Derevyanchenko has decent power himself though I think Charlo is more powerful. He’s been caught early in both his world title fights and dropped. I think he is susceptible to the uppercut because of how he likes to get on the inside and keep low which leaves him open for short uppercuts. He does work decently on the inside and has good feints which keeps his opponents guessing and limits their offence. I think he has nice short hooks which he throws to both the body and head. He showed he had good stamina in a hard grueling fight with GGG. He has good pressure and clearly isn’t scared of anybodies power as he went toe to toe with GGG who is a huge puncher. He also has a decent chin even though hes been dropped as he took a lot of shots in the GGG fight and most didn’t seem to effect him.
This is a really hard fight for me to predict but i’m going to go with Jermall Charlo by decision because I think he’ll drop Chenko with an uppercut and that may be the deciding factor in an otherwise close fight. A lot of it could be what the judges like, the powerful accurate shots of Charlo or the volume and aggressiveness of Chenko. With Charlo being the home fighter I think they’ll go with him.
Boxing Fulcrum 