So, when he was presented an opportunity to move up in weight to fight Sergiy Derevyanchenko, a longtime middleweight contender, Hackett quickly accepted.

They’ll square off July 26 at Infosys Theater in Madison Square Garden as part of Zuffa Boxing 9. Paramount+ will stream their 10-rounder as part of the Edgar Berlanga-Steven Butler undercard from New York.

For some, fighting someone as rough and experienced as the durable Ukrainian might be a step too far. For Hackett, he wanted this sort of challenge.

“This is exactly the type of fight I needed,” Hackett told The Ring. “I’m happy with the way my career is going, but I feel like I needed to step things up. Sergiy is a great fighter and he’s only lost to world champions. Beating him would prove that I’m ready for all the top names.”

Six losses to top-level fighters – a group that includes Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, Carlos Adames, Christian Mbilli and Daniel Jacobs – doesn’t diminish the 40-year-old veteran in Hackett’s eyes.

Hackett (12-1, 9 KOs) is on a three-fight winning streak since he lost a controversial split decision to Puerto Rico’s Jose Roman (14-2, 6 KOs) in December 2024.

Their immediate rematch was canceled the day before they were supposed to fight again in March 2025 because Hackett injured his ankle after slipping in the sauna while trying to cut weight. It was not rescheduled.

Hackett admitted defeating Derevyanchenko (16-6, 11 KOs) won’t be easy, but the Washington, D.C. native has big dreams and aspirations, including becoming a world champion. Hackett knows he’ll have to knock off several high-level opponents after facing Derevyanchenko to reach the top.

“I wanna fight for a world title soon and I know that 160 has a lot of good names,” Hackett said. “You have me, you have Jahi Tucker, Amari Jones, and a couple other guys. We’re all fighting for the top spot. We’ll see who comes out as the guy.”