By Alexey Sukachev

Another prominent Ukrainian amateur will follow the path of his famed teammates Olexander Usyk, Vasyl Lomachenko, Taras Shaelestyuk, Olexander Gvozdyk and Evgueny Khytrov and make a shift to the paid ranks in June. As is the case for the latter four, Sergey Derevyanchenko will debut as a prizefighter in the States, and will see his first professional action in June.

Derevyanchenko will be a part of a bigger Ukrainian boxing day in America, fighting on the undercard of his countryman (and former teammate) Anatoly Dudchenko’s IBF light heavyweight eliminator versus Nadjib Mohammedi, which is co-promoted by Main Events and Russell Peltz on June 21 at the Mohegun Sun Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The whole show will be televised by the NBC Sports Network. Sergey’s fight is scheduled for six rounds against an opponent to be named in the middleweight division.

On the same date, on the opposite coast in Carson, California, another Derevyanchenko’s teammates, Vasyl Lomachenko, will have his next biggest career fight, trying to seize a vacant WBO featherweight title in a heated match-up with undefeated Gary Russell Jr.

Derevyanchenko himself is 28 years of age. He was the 2007 Chicago world championship’s bronze medalist in the middleweight division, losing in semifinal to Matvey Korobov, and also a part of 2008 Beijing Ukrainian Olympic team, where he had lost in the second round. Derevyanchenko then made a transition to the WSB (World Series of Boxing) team Milano Thunder (Italy) for the season of 2010/2011. He spent his next three seasons (2011/2012, 2012,2013 and 2013/2014) within Kazakhstani team Astana Arlans, racking up an impressive record of 23-1, with the only loss suffered in his third season to Argentinean Brian Carlos Castano. Despite his great achievements as a semi-pro, Derevyanchenko never got the chance to fight in his second Olympics, creating a minor fuss and buzz in the Ukrainian boxing community.