Carlos Adames grinded out a majority decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko tonight in middleweight slugfest. Adamas (21-1, 16 KOs) earned a title shot with the victory, as this fight was a WBC 160-pound title eliminator.
“I want to thank my team and Derevyanchenko for the fight he gave me,” Adamas said after the bout. “This was a great fight with a great fighter. I can fight at 154-pounds or at 160. Wherever they give me the opportunity for a championship, I’ll do it.”
The judges scored it 97-93 and 96-94 for Adames, with one judge seeing it a 95-95 draw. Adames, The Ring’s No. 9-rated junior middleweight, won the first four rounds on all three scorecards, with the judges agreeing on eight of the ten rounds overall.
Derevyanchenko (13-4, 10 KOs), a 37-year-old veteran who has been in several tough fights, gave his thoughts on what’s next. “I don’t know. I need to rest, then come back to the gym and think. I love boxing, I love the show.”
When this fight was announced as part of the undercard for the Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz Showtime PPV, most boxing insiders felt it would lead to the best action of the night. Those expectations were more than met in a fight that featured terrific two-way action throughout.
Adames came out fighting as a southpaw early on, which appeared to stifle Derevyanchenko, The Ring’s No. 4-rated middleweight. After a slow start, the Ukrainian surged back in the middle rounds to even up the fight. However, down the stretch it was the younger Dominican Republic native who did the better work and earned the victory, setting him up for a
CompuBox credited Adames with landing 162 of 569 total punches (28%) and Derevyanchenko with 157 of 562 (28%). Jabs and power punching were nearly identical, but the Ukrainian landed more body blows.
In the PPV opener, Eduardo Ramirez scored a dominant unanimous decision victory over Miguel Marriaga in a ten-round junior lightweight title eliminator. The judges scored it 99-90 for the Mexican, who improved to 26-2-3 (12 KOs). Marriaga, a former world title challenger from Colombia, was dropped in round three, but it was a flash knockdown.
CompuBox credited Ramirez with landing 280 of 762 total punches (37%) including 64 to the body, while Marriaga landed 159 of 689 (23%). Ramirez made his 130-pound debut tonight, moving up from featherweight. With this win, he’s now the mandatory challenger for WBC titleholder Oscar Valdez.
NON-PPV UNDERCARD RESULTS:
Vaughn Alexander won a split decision over Luis Arias in a ten-round middleweight bout. The Saint Louis native improved to 16-6-1 (9 KOs), getting back into the win column after going 0-3-1 in his last four.
Ava Knight scored a unanimous decision win over Nancy Franco de Alba in a six-round bantamweight fight. Knight, who also fights professionally in MMA, improved to 20-2-5 (5 KOs) as a boxer with the win.
Mia Ellis scored a unanimous decision victory over Elizabeth Tuani in a four-round junior lightweight bout. The Baltimore native improved to 3-0 2 KOs) with the win.
Michael Montero can be found on social media via @MonteroOnBoxing. His podcast “The Neutral Corner” can be seen every Monday on TheRingDigital YouTube channel, and heard on audio podcast platforms around the world.
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