Fast Results from New York: Daniel Jacobs Prevails in a Spirited Rumble

Daniel Jacobs, the Miracle Man, entered tonight’s contest against Sergiy Derevyanchenko at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden with a 34-2 record, but it was duly noted that he had struggled against opponents from Eastern Europe who were undefeated when he fought them. His two losses were inflicted by a Russian (Dmitry Pirog) and a Kazakh (Gennady Golovkin) and his last contest against Poland’s Maciej Sulecki was more difficult than anticipated.

Enter Derevyanchenko whose 12-0 mark masked the fact that he had a wealth of experience. Before turning pro, the 32-year-old Brooklyn-based Ukrainian, a 2008 Olympian, compiled a 23-1 mark in the semi-pro World Series of Boxing while representing teams in Italy and Kazakhstan. And he was well acquainted with Jacobs. In fact, they shared the same trainer, Andre Rozier, who worked Jacobs’ corner tonight, competing against his chief assistant Gary Stark who handled Derevyanchenko.

This would also be a difficult fight for Jacobs, far more difficult than his bout with Sulecki, but he prevailed, winning a split decision to cop the vacant IBF middleweight title that was stripped from Gennady Golovkin before Golovkin’s rematch with Canelo Alvarez. Two judges scored the fight 115-112 for Jacobs with the other, Julie Lederman, submitting a tally of 114-113 for Derevyanchenko.

Jacobs grabbed an early lead when he knocked Derevyanchenko off his pins with a looping right hand in the opening round. The Ukrainian was up in a jiff, but it was scored a 10-8 round for the Miracle Man. In the ensuing rounds, Derevyanchenko was the aggressor, but Jacobs, who frequently switched from an orthodox to a southpaw stance, landed the cleaner and crisper punches. The last half of the final round was marked by one long and furious exchange, much to the satisfaction of the crowd. A rematch would be an easy sell but Jacobs has his eye on a unification match with Canelo.

Machado-Evans

In the semi-windup, Puerto Rico’s Alberto Machado (21-0, 17 KOs) demolished Yuandale Evans, knocking him down three times (including a standing 8-count) before the bout was stopped at the 2:25 mark of the opening round. Machado, a converted southpaw trained by Freddie Roach, was making the second defense of the title he won with an eighth round stoppage of Jezreel Corrales. Co-promoted by Miguel Cotto and Golden Boy, Machado ended matters with a pulverizing right hook of such severity that the referee waived the bout off without the formality of a count.

The 29-year-old Evans, whose career has been pocked by long periods of inactivity, suffered his second defeat in 22 starts. In both losses, he failed to survive the first round.

Hardy-Vincent

In the HBO pay-per-view opener, Heather Hardy remained undefeated with a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision over Shelley Vincent. The scores were a generous 99-91 and 97-93 twice.

This was a rematch. In August of 2016, the ladies stole the show on a nationally televised card in Coney Island that featured Errol Spence in a world title defense. In that match, Hardy, now 22-0, saddled Vincent, now 23-2, with her first defeat.

The sequel wasn’t quite as zesty, but was another entertaining fight. Hardy, 36, did her best work early and late, but the spunky Vincent, 39, was again a tough nut to crack. There were no knockdowns but Hardy suffered a small cut over her right eye in round three and a gash above her left eye in round seven from an accidental head butt.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / HBO

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