Ayala in an eight-round bout aired on ShoBox, winning by a wide unanimous decision, improving his record to 6–0. In August 2016, he faced former world champion Sam Soliman. In the first round, Derevyanchenko landed a left-right combination to the head, causing Soliman to take a knee. Soliman was dropped a further two times in the second-round, causing the referee to wave off the fight, giving Derevyanchenko the win by technical knockout (TKO). Rise up the ranks The IBF ordered an eliminator between Derevyanchenko and Tureano Johnson, with the winner becoming the mandatory challenger to the unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. The fight was originally set for April 2016, but Johnson had to pull out due to injury. The fight was rescheduled for 25 August 2017, and was televised on Fox Sports 1. Derevyanchenko slowly broke down Johnson, hurting him repeatedly throughout the fight, finally dropping Johnson in the twelfth round, at which point the referee waved off the fight. Derevyanchenko vs. Jacobs 27 October 2018, he fought Daniel Jacobs for the vacant IBF middleweight title at the Hulu Theater, New York. Losing by split decision, handing Derevyanchenko the first loss of his professional career. Derevyanchenko vs. Culcay He fought Jack Culcay on 13 April 2019 in a final eliminator for the IBF middleweight title. Winning by unanimous decision, Derevyanchenko became the mandatory challenger for unified middleweight champion Canelo Álvarez. However, after extended negotiations between Álvarez and Derevyanchenko, both parties failed to schedule a fight before the IBF's deadline, causing the IBF to strip Álvarez of their title. Álvarez's promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, expressed his displeasure with the decision to strip Álvarez of the belt, insisting Derevyanchenko had been offered an "unprecedented amount of money for a fighter of his limited stature and limited popularity". Derevyanchenko vs. Golovkin On 5 October 2019, he faced Gennady Golovkin for the vacant IBF and IBO middleweight titles at Madison Square Garden, New York City. After a tentative start to the opening round, which saw both fighters sizing each other up with probing jabs, Golovkin fired off a six punch combination ending with a right hook to Derevyanchenko's head, dropping the Ukrainian with 1 minute left in the first round. Derevyanchenko rose to his feet within seconds, showing no signs of being hurt. The knockdown appeared to spur Derevyanchenko into action as he began to answer Golovkin's punches with his own shots for