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Sergiy Derevyanchenko: Keep Your Friends Close

Daniel Jacobs and Sergiy Derevyanchenko will be fighting Oct. 27 at Madison Square Garden in a 12-round bout for the vacant IBF Middleweight title on HBO (10 p.m. ET), but this will be far from the first time the two have shared the ring together.

Jacobs and Derevyanchenko are both trained by Andre Rozier, and have sparred over 300 rounds together in preparation for their respective fights over the years. But now, with both having climbed to the top of the middleweight ranks, they are fighting each other on the biggest stage.

But while they were teammates and friendly with each other, when I spoke to Derevyanhenko he made it clear that there won’t be any mixed feelings about this fight, stating:

“I want this belt, Daniel Jacobs wants this belt, and it is a fight.