Sergiy Derevyanchenko W10 Vaughn Alexander... Coming off of his “Fight of the Year” candidate, a loss against Jaime Munguia last June, Ukrainian Sergiy Derevyanchenko, 167.4 pounds, of Brooklyn, NY, rebounded with a shutout decision victory against granite-chinned Vaughn Alexander, 167.4, of St. Louis on Saturday night at Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, NY. Using expert-level angles and footwork, the three-time world title challenger outboxed and outfought his veteran adversary over ten one-sided rounds. Seeing Alexander absorb a fusillade of leather round after round, Derevyanchenko switched his attack to the midsection, scoring a body-shot knockdown in the eighth. All three judges tallied 100-89 for Derevyanchenko, who is now 15-5 (10 KOs). Losing his third straight fight of 2024, Alexander left the ring at 18-11-1 (11 KOs).
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
The Haney-Garcia off-TV undercard also featured:
Darius “Destined For Greatness” Fulghum, 167.4 lbs., of Houston, TX, won a fourth-round stoppage win against Mexican Cristian Olivas, 167.4 lbs., of Baja California. Feeling that Olivas had taken too much punishment, the referee intervened with the Mexican still standing at the 0:50 mark of the round. The six-foot-one Fulghum competed as a heavyweight during his amateur days, winning a Golden Gloves title in 2018 and a victory at the 2020 Olympic Trials. He turned professional as a super middleweight in December 2021. Fulghum is now 11-0 (10 KOs). Stopped for only the second time, Olivas is now 22-11 (19 KOs).
Jonathan Canas, 137.6 lbs., of Santa Ana, CA, earned a dominant four-round unanimous decision victory against Markus Bowes, 140 lbs., of Roxboro, NC. Canas hurt Bowes in the second stanza with a left hook and staggered him into the blue corner with a straight right. Canas is now 4-0 (2 KOs), while Bowes goes home at 2-6 (2 KOs).
Hard-hitting middleweight Amari “The Reaper” Jones, 159.2 lbs., of Las Vegas, NV, targeted the body of Germany’s Armel Mbumba-Yassa, 160.4 lbs., with forceful hooks and uppercuts. One of those shots shipped below the belt when Jones switched to southpaw in the second frame. Mbumba-Yassa was aggressive, willing to trade and throwing the occasional combination when Jones was on the backfoot. Jones accelerated his attack in the fourth, still switching between orthodox and southpaw, jabbing upstairs and digging shots to the midsection. After taking a half-step back, Jones landed a straight right-left hook combination to send Mbumba-Yassa to the canvas in the sixth. Jones finished him off with a follow-up barrage moments later, earning the TKO win 39 seconds into the round. Promoted by Devin Haney and trained by Bill Haney, Jones upped his record to 12-0 (11 KOs). Mbumba-Yassa, now 10-2 (7 KOs), suffered his second straight US-based defeat.
Las Vegas light heavyweight Kevin “The Second Coming” Newman II, 173.4 lbs., showed fast hands and deft footwork as he circled the ring pumping his jab against Eric Robles, 177.8 lbs., of Tijuana, Mexico. When he closed the distance, Newman added a straight right-left hook combination behind his jab. In round four, Newman dropped Robles twice to end the contest. The first knockdown was the result of a body shot and then Newman felled his foe once more with an overhand right to the side of the head. Referee Benji Esteves immediately halted the bout at the 1:53 mark of the frame. Earning his fifth straight victory, Newman improved to 16-3-1 (10 KOs), while Robles left the ring at 9-4 (8 KOs).
To open up the event, Shamar Canal, 135 lbs., of Albany, NY, made his debut in his home state earning a six-round unanimous decision against Pedro Penunuri Borgaro, 135.8 lbs., of Sonora, Mexico. All three scorecards read 60-53. Canal improved to 8-0 (4 KOs), while Borgaro dipped to 7-2 (4 KOs).
