In a battle that turned out to be a test of endurance and will power, Sergiy Derevyanchenko (11-0, 9 KOs) outlasted the hard-nosed Tureano Johnson (20-2, 14 KOs) in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions card on Main Street outside of the Buffalo Run Casino and Resort in Miami, Oklahoma.
In what started as a close-quarters fight, full of big punches and constant pressure by both fighters, Derevyanchenko took control of the fight one round at a time. Throughout the first three rounds, Derevyanchenko’s accurate punching to the head and body of Johnson started to wear the Atlanta-based fighter down.
The beginning of the fourth was all action as both fighters traded hard shots in the middle in the ring. Derevyanchenko gave distance first landing multiple jabs before landing hard hooks and uppercuts that snapped Johnson’s head back.
Derevyanchenko took control in the fifth, walking Johnson into hard punches and jabs. Johnson landed a few hard punches of his own, but they were far and few in between the explosive combinations from Derevyanchenko.
In the sixth round, Derevyanchenko’s right hooks and uppercuts were the main players in this bout. Johnson was remained front and center, trying to keep up the pressure, but the damage had clearly affected him.
By the eighth, all the activity had Derevyanchenko had him taking huge breaths in between strings of activity. Unbelievably, Johnson was still coming forward until Derevyanchenko landed a string of unanswered punches that had Johsnon reeling. It was amazing that Johnson never touched the canvas through nine rounds, despite the amounts of punishment he had taken.
It was obvious there was no mustard left on Johnson’s punches; however, Derevyanchenko was clearly starting show signs of fatigue from all the accurate punching combined with Johnson’s continued pressure.
After a miracle second wind from Derevyanchenko that started in the eleventh round, he finally dropped the seemingly impervious Johnson at 2:40 in the 12th with a five-punch combination that ended with a hard left hook.
This victory makes Dervyanchenko the No. 1 contender for Gennady Golovkin’s IBF title, considering Golovkin gets past his bout with Canelo Alvarez next month.
Header photo by Dave Nadkarni/Premier Boxing Champions
