Danny Jacobs edge past former sparring mate and undefeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the IBF Middleweight title. He won by a split decision as two judges had him winning 115-112 while Julie Lederman had Derevyanchenko winning 114-113, disagreeing with her father who had Jacobs winning by a wider margin that the judges. I had 116-111.
Both fighters knew each other after sparring over 300 rounds and while Derevyanchenko came in with a 12-0 record but he also had 20 plus fights in the World Series of Boxing that did not count in his professional record. Derevyanchenko was noted for the being an aggressive fighter but over the first half of the fight, Derevyanchenko showed restraint in his attack and with good reason. Throughout the bout, Jacobs launched vicious body shot and it didn’t help Derevyanchenko that he went down on a flash knockdown on a Jacobs’clubbing right hand near the end of the first bout. Derevyanchenko did manage a combination in the second round that shook Jacobs up but from that point, Jacobs showed overall better skills and ring generalship as he moved and gave himself angles to hit Derevyanchenko. Derevyanchenko fought a competitive fight and many pundits had the fight closer than I had. Each round was competitive including the first round until Derevyanchenko hit the canvas at the end of the round.
Danny Jacobs escaped from being trapped on the rope while keeping much of the bout in the center of the ring. Derevyanchenko did not match Jacobs hand speed and nor did he cut off the ring as well as he could but then Jacobs mobility has much to do with that.
There were moments that Derevyanchenko got the better including a solid left hand and right hand combination in the tenth round and he took the final round but it was too little too late, at least on my card. While Harold Lederman had this fight in favor of Jacobs, other of the HBO team including Roy Jones and Max Kellerman warned the audience that while Harold had it easily in Jacobs favor, the judges would have it closer. They did and Harold own daughter disagree with her father on who won. Now Jacobs want Alvarez to unify the title.
HBO is now leaving the fight game and by the end of the year, there will be no HBO covering boxing. For years, Showtime has surpassed HBO and other just as ESPN and Fox sports covered the sport. HBO was the king of boxing coverage for over four decades and if there was a big fight, HBO had it. Over 1100 fights were seen on HBO since 1973 but over the past few years, Top Rank and Premier boxing took their business elsewhere and many of the bigger stars moved to Showtime, leaving HBO with very few big fights. Over the years some of the greatest performed on HBO including Lennox Lewis, Roy Jones, Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns. The last big stars left on HBO was Saul Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, who will now be free agents.
For me, a decisive shift from HBO to Showtime was the Showtime Super Middleweight tournament and over a period of three years, Showtime had some of the best fighters in the 168 pound fighting each other and it was here that Andre Ward became a star as he won the tournament and became the king of the division. HBO is no longer part of boxing but boxing may benefit from this as there are other who are willing to broadcast more matches. My own bias is that covering Showtime boxing was more fun and their announcers were more accessible. I remember covering a SHOBOX and I had the chance to interview the late Nick Charles and Steve Farhood, and found them both not just knowledgeable about the sport but down to earth. I will miss Harold Lederman who often explained the nuance of scoring and hope he lands somewhere. Jim Lampley is staying with HBO, so his career as play by play announcer is over but Max Kellerman may end up back at ESPN. Boxing will survive and with Showtime, they have will a network that will promote the sport that HBO failed
The Donelson Files 