On Sunday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles, hard-hitting middleweight contenders Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Carlos Adames will square off in a high-stakes battle where the winner will move ahead to a potential title shot in 2022.

The fight will be part of the Showtime pay-per-view undercard to the lightweight clash between Gervonta Davis and Isaac Cruz.

 A 2008 Olympian for his native Ukraine, Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs), will return for the first time since losing a twelve round unanimous decision to WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo in September 2020.

Adames (20-1, 16 KOs), in his most recent outing, scored a third-round TKO over Alexis Salazar on the Davis vs. Mario Barrios Showtime PPV undercard in June. 

Derevyanchenko is very motivated for the upcoming outing - as he believes a victory will place in position for a big fight with Jaime Munguia - who keeps calling for a showdown in 2022.

“I have a lot of motivation for this fight. That and my power is going to help me. Winning this fight is going to keep my career going and put me where I want to get back to," Derevyanchenko said.

“I feel strong and I’m excited to face Adames. He’s a good fighter who hits hard. But I’m ready for anything he brings. I’ve fought the best middleweights in the world. I’ve faced power punchers before, so I’m not worried about his power. I’ve studied Adames and looked at some of his past fights. He’s a very strong fighter. I am familiar with him and we’ve been working during training camp for what he does. I know what I have to do on Sunday night and I’m going to show everyone during the fight.

“Of course I need to win this fight. This fight is the next step toward becoming world champion. I want to win this fight, face Jaime Munguia and then fight for the title again. My dream is to win the belt and that’s what I’m working toward.”