Unbeaten Sergiy Derevyanchenko Stops Tureano Johnson

Published by Shawn C.

*MIAMI, OK. *(August 25, 2017) – *Sergiy Derevyanchenko *(11-0, 9 KOs)
remained unbeaten as he stopped *Tureano Johnson *(20-2, 14 KOs) in
the 12th and
final round of their middleweight world title eliminator that headlined a
special Friday night edition of*Premier Boxing Champions **TOE-TO-TOE
TUESDAYS *on *FS1 *and *BOXEO DE CAMPEONES *on *FOX Deportes*

Derevyanchenko put himself in line for a world title shot with an
impressive stoppage of the durable contender Johnson in their bout from
Main Street – in front of historic Coleman Theater – in Miami, Oklahoma.

“I’m very happy with my performance,” said Derevyanchenko. “I did exactly
what we worked on in training and broke him down to get the knockout.”

“I’m very disappointed,” said Johnson. “But I give a lot of credit to
Derevyanchenko and congratulate him on his performance tonight.”

Johnson was aggressive from the start, positioning himself right in front
of his opponent while trying to throw punches from orthodox and southpaw
stances. Derevyanchenko was able to sustain the pressure and use a steady
jab to create enough space to unload big power shots on Johnson.

The third round saw Derevyanchenko’s offense break through as he was able
to land multiple punches to the head while Johnson could only try to cover
up. After falling behind in the first half of the fight, Johnson upped the
aggression in rounds six and seven and was able to have more success
landing a series of hooks through Derevyanchenko’s own offense.

However, in round eight Derevyanchenko returned to relying on his jab and
was once again able to create the space to land strong shots and got the
best of multiple exchanges. Derevyanchenko continued to show off impressive
combos until finally breaking down Johnson for good in the 12th round with
a ferocious combination that included three clean left hooks to the head.

“He was very tough and took a lot of punches,” said Derevyanchenko. “Maybe
the fight could have been stopped earlier but I was always ready to go the
distance.”

Johnson was sent down and referee Gary Ritter immediately called a halt to
the bout 40 seconds into the final round.

“I’m ready to fight the winner of Golovkin vs. Canelo for the title,” said
Derevyanchenko. “I think that Golovkin will win and I look forward to
fighting him next.”

The co-main event of the telecast saw once-beaten *Hugo Centeno Jr. *(26-1,
14 KOs) deliver a highlight reel knockout of previously undefeated *Immanuwel
Aleem *(17-1, 10 KOs) in the third round of their middleweight matchup.

Centeno Jr. looked to use his 6’1″ frame to hurt Aleem from a distance as
he circled the ring and stayed on the outside until attacking with a
combination. Aleem came out dedicated to throwing huge left hooks to the
body and worked to stay on the inside against the taller opponent.

Aleem upped the aggression in the second and third rounds, but Centeno Jr.
stayed calm and slowly began to time the charging Aleem. A Centeno uppercut
in round two was the first shot that got the attention of Aleem, who was
coming into this bout off of a knockout victory versus Ievgen Khytrov in a
“Fight of the Year” candidate from January.

Late in the third round, Centeno Jr. landed a perfect left hook on the
button just as Aleem tried to throw his own left hand and sent Aleem
crashing to the canvas. Referee Gerald Ritter counted Aleem out as the
fight was officially ended 2:27 into the round and Centeno walked away with
a victory that will likely garner “Knockout of the Year” consideration.