Kazakh boxer Gennady Golovkin defeated Ukraine’s Serhiy Derevyanchenko in a unanimous decision to take back one of his old middleweight titles.
In scoring the victory on October 5 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Golovkin knocked Derevyanchenko down in the first round, opened a cut near his right eye in the second, and then held on to take the IBF title.
The 37-year-old Golovkin (40-1-1 with 35 knockouts) scored 115-112 on two cards and 114-113 on the other to give him the title vacated by Canelo Alvarez, who had beaten Golovkin for the Kazakh’s only professional loss.
"I told you, he's a very tough guy," said Golovkin after his win over Derevyanchenko.
"This is a huge experience for me. Right now, I understand I need more. I feel this was not an easy fight for me. This was a tough fight,” added Golovkin, who is also known as Triple G.
The 33-year-old Derevyanchenko’s record fell to 13-2.