Carlos Adames has arrived.
The Dominican defeated longtime contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko by a majority decision in a 10-round middleweight bout on the Gervonta Davis-Isaac Cruz cards Saturday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The fight was billed as a title eliminator, meaning Adames (21-1, 16 KOs) moved a step closer to a shot at a 160-pound championship.
Meanwhile, Derevyanchenko (13-4, 10 KOs) has now lost three consecutive fights by decision, Gennadiy Golovkin and Jermal Charlo for titles and now Adames.
And he’s 36, not an age at which it will be easy to regroup once again.
The fighters used the first round to feel one another out and then, beginning in Round 2, never really stopped punching.
Adames got off to a quick start, landing more and cleaner shots in Rounds 2, 3 and 4. Derevyanchenko gained an edge in the middle rounds, when the fighters exchanged punches toe-to-toe on several occasions.
It was back and forth from there, with both fighters having good moments in a close fight. The last two rounds were particularly difficult to score, as neither fighter could separate from the other.
The scores reflected how close it was. One judge had it a 95-95 draw but he was overruled by his colleagues, who had it 97-93 and 96-94 for Adames.