Boxing: Sergiy Derevyanchenko to Face Elvin Ayala Aug. 7 on ShoBox

---

Unbeaten middleweight prospect Sergiy Derevyanchenko is slated to return to action on Friday, Aug. 7 in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation. His opponent will be the battled-tested veteran Elvin Ayala and their fight will be held inside the Ballroom at Bally’s Atlantic City. The event will be televised live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET (delayed on West Coast).

Derevyanchenko (5-0, 4 KOs) represented Ukraine at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing after a stellar amateur career, where he captured multiple medals and nabbed almost 400 wins. From there, he compiled an impressive 23-1 record in the quasi-professional World Series of Boxing before finally turning pro last summer.

Ayala (28-6-1, 12 KOs) has never quite broken through to the big time in his career, though he has taken on several high-level opponents. He fought to a draw with Sergio Mora, but was knocked out in the first round by both David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens. He also lost a bid for the IBF middleweight title against Arthur Abraham, where he was stopped in the 12th frame. Ayala has won two consecutive bouts, though, with his last win coming over previously-unbeaten Ronald Gavril in March.

“I have been preparing for this fight for over a month now and still have another five weeks of camp left; everything is going according to plan,” said Derevyanchenko in a statement. “I can’t wait to showcase my skills to the world on Aug. 7 as the main event.

“Ayala is an experienced and proven contender and, without a doubt, my toughest opponent to date,” Derevyanchenko added. “That being said, there is no doubt in my mind that I will come out victorious from this battle.”

In the co-feature, Derevyanchenko’s stablemate, prospect Ievgen Khytrov (10-0, nine KOs), will oppose Nick Brinson (17-3-2, seven KOs) in an eight-round middleweight matchup. The opening bout of the telecast will be a junior welterweight clash between unbeaten knockout artists Regis Prograis (14-0, 12 KOs) and Amos Cowart (11-0-1, nine KOs).