Daniel Jacobs vs Sergiy Derevyanchenko ordered by IBF

The IBF has a fight in mind to fill its middleweight vacancy after stripping Gennady Golovkin. ESPN reports that the sanctioning body has ordered a bout between Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who was mandatory for Golovkin and the reason they stripped him, and top contender Daniel Jacobs.

This is all in the early stages, of course, and may not happen. Golovkin may have negotiated his way out of a September rematch with Canelo Alvarez, and if so, Golden Boy and Matchroom Boxing have had at least preliminary talks about Canelo facing Jacobs (34-2, 29 KO), which would be a much, much bigger fight for Jacobs than this would be, even without a title on the line.

Jacobs took Golovkin 12 rounds in a very tight loss in March 2017, and since then has won two straight, beating Luis Arias and Maciej Sulecki, both by decision.

Derevyanchenko (12-0, 10 KO) hasn’t faced anyone near Jacobs’ level as a pro, but he was itching to fight Golovkin, so if it’s Jacobs, it’s Jacobs for him. If not, the IBF will go down its rankings and figure out the next option. Jermall Charlo and Demetrius Andrade were ranked just behind Jacobs in the most recently available IBF rankings at 160.