NEW YORK — In a career marked by high contact fights, Sergiy Derevyanchenko had a rare night where his skills were able to keep him out of trouble.

The 38-year-old Ukrainian contender lived up to his “Technician” nickname on Saturday night, outboxing journeyman Vaughn Alexander to a routine unanimous decision win on the Devin Haney vs. Ryan Garcia undercard at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

All three judges scored the fight 100-89 for Derevyanchenko (15-5, 10 knockouts), who is based in Brooklyn and originally hails from Feodosia, Ukraine.

The win in the ten-round super middleweight bout was just the second in the last six fights for Derevyanchenko, a three-time title challenger who has arguably faced the toughest schedule of opposition in the middleweight divisions over the five years.

After a slow start, Derevyanchenko began turning up the heat in round three, firing combinations of short punches and then sliding out to his left and right to fire quick counterpunches on the plodding Alexander.

Alexander landed his best punch of the fight in round five, an uppercut, but was promptly punished by the quicker-footed Derevyanchenko, whose ability to create angles earned him several right hand counters. This pattern persisted over the course of the fight as Alexander walked forward without a jab, allowing Derevyanchenko to beat him to the punch consistently before circling out to safety.

Derevyanchenko scored the fight’s only knockdown in round 8 with a left hook to the body which Alexander never saw coming. Alexander looked to be finished, but was given a few extra seconds to recover as referee Steve Willis comically ordered Derevyanchenko back to the neutral corner, with the bell sounding to end the bout once Willis resumed the action.

Derevyanchenko piled on the offense in the ninth round before seeming to settle in for the distance in the tenth.

The St. Louis native Alexander (18-11-1, 11 KOs), who like Derevyanchenko is 38 years old, loses for the fourth straight time.

Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy

Darius Fulghum barely needed to get out of first gear in his first fight on the east coast, scoring a fourth round stoppage of Cristian Olivas at the 50-second mark of an eight-round schedule super middleweight bout.

Fulghum (11-0, 10 KOs) of Houston, Tex. controlled the bout with his superior technique before the fight was brought to an end due to a mercy stoppage. The 27-year-old Fulghum, who won the 2018 National Golden Gloves and 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, signed with Golden Boy Promotions last October.

Olivas (22-11, 19 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico loses by stoppage for just the second time, and falls to 0-7 in the United States.

Lightweight prospect Jonathan Canas (4-0, 2 KOs) of Santa Ana, Calif. shut out Markus Bowes (2-6, 2 KOs) over four rounds, winning by scores of 40-36 across the board.

Junior middleweight prospect Amari Jones (12-0, 11 KOs) scored his fourth straight stoppage win, finishing Germany-based fighter Armel Mbumba-Yassa (10-2-1, 7 KOs) a 39 seconds of round 6. The 21-year-old Jones, a 2019 USA Youth National champion, is originally from Oakland, Calif.

Kevin Newman II (16-3-1, 9 Kos) of Los Angeles scored a fourth round stoppage of Eric Robles (9-4) at the 1:53 mark of an eight round super middleweight bout.

The card opened up with a six-round lightweight bout as Shamar Canal (8-0, 4 KOs) of Schenectady, N.Y. scored a six-round unanimous decision win over Pedro Borgaro (7-2, 4 KOs), scoring a knockdown in round three to win by scores of 60-53 across the board.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].