Ukrainian middleweight standout Sergiy Derevyanchenko defeated fellow unbeaten Kemahl Russell by fifth-round stoppage on Tuesday at the Fitz Tunica Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The official time of the stoppage was of 1:06 of Round 5.

The 2008 Olympian who now calls Brooklyn, New York, his home needed some extra time to figure out his much taller opponent’s timing. In the end it was a large right hand that hurt the Jamaican fighter and created the opening for Derevyanchenko (10-0, 8 knockouts) to go on the attack punishing Russell on the ropes prompting referee Bill Clancy to stop the bout.

Russell (10-1, 8 KOs), making only his second appearance in the U.S., used his length and reach advantage of almost six inches to jab Derevyanchenko in the opening round and kept the powerful and technically proficient Ukrainian away.

Derevyanchenko tried lowering his head in Round 2 and look for openings by working Russell’s body. As Russell kept jabbing away, Derevyanchenko used his ability to change angles to uncover openings and confuse Russell. Derevyanchenko landed a good body shot and then cam upstairs with double left hooks to move Russell back and impose his will on the Jamaican fighter.

Both men had moments in the fourth round as Russell landed a large right hand to keep Derevyanchenko away. Derevyanchenko began relying on his ability to move to find another angle to land on Russell and landed another series of left hooks pushing Russell into the ropes and covering up. One of Derevyanchenko’s punches opened a cut underneath the left eye of Russell as the round came to an end.

Derevyanchenko’s impressive amateur record of 390-20 and World Series of Boxing record of 23-1 gives him the advantage of quickly being able to adjust to his opponents and turn the tide in his direction. This was Derevyanchenko first appearance since obliterating former world titleholder Sam Soliman in three rounds last July.

To prepare for his bout against Russell, Derevyanchenko joined Daniel Jacobs in California for his fellow middleweight and Brooklynite’s camp to prepare for unified world champion Gennady Golovkin this Saturday.

Light heavyweight prospect Ahmed Elbiali (15-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Jackson Junior (20-8, 18 KOs) in the first round. The official time of the stoppage was 1:33.

In his first bout since undergoing surgery on his left hand over fourteen months 26-year-old Elbiali landed a devastating right hand on the side of Junior’s head making it an early night. Although the Brazilian Junior beat the count at first he was out of it and not stable on his feet.

Elbiali, who is originally from Egypt now resides in Miami, is a regular on PBC’s Toe-To-Toe Tuesday series making his fourth appearance as he tries to make the move from prospect to contender. Elbiali was building a reputation for himself as a big power puncher when he broke his hand in the opening round of his last bout in January of 2016 when he won a decision victory over Andrew Hernandez in San Antonio, Texas.

In the opening bout of the telecast 22-year-old welterweight prospect Jamontay Clark (11-0, 7 KOs) defeated Gaku Takahashi (15-7, 7 KOs) by TKO when Takahashi’s corner did not allow their fighter to answer the bell for the eighth and final round.

Both fighters had their moments in the bout, but the 6-foot-2 Clark, who sported a 80-to-72 reach advantage over Takahashi, found his grove in the seventh round and hurt Takahashi with two giant left hooks and as Takahashi leaned in to possibly hold on, Clark then made him pay with a combination of two right hooks that landed flush to end the round. The energetic Takahashi, who took the bout on just 10 days’ notice, looked dejected as he returned his corner prompting the stoppage.

The Japanese journeyman, who now calls Los Angeles and the Wild Card gym his home, appeared to hurt Clark twice in the opening round of the bout, but his punches lacked the zip necessary to do any real damage on the taller man. Takahashi stunned Clark again in Round 5, pounding the prospect with a succession of looping left hooks, after Clark punched himself out after having Takahashi in trouble along the ropes.

Takahashi looked poised for another rally in the seventh but the accumulation of punches from Clark caused Takahashi’s face to swell badly and Clark was finally able to break him down.

Clark was original slated to appear on the Adrien Broner-Adrian Granados undercard last month in Ohio but the Cincinnati native was a late scratch.

In other action Justin Pauldo (9-1, 4 KOs) defeated Justin Savi (10-10-1, 6 KOs) by four-round unanimous decision. The official scores were unanimously 40-36.

The Orlando native, who is now trained by Ronnie Shields, came out swinging massive left hooks and hurt Savi several times in the bout. Savi stopped his corner from ending the contest at the conclusion of the third round wanting to go out on his own shield.