Last night at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, Gennady Golovkin showed that he is the perfect boxer to inherit Floyd Mayweather?s crown as the best fighter in the world.
Golovkin, taking on David Lemieux in a middleweight unification fight, added the IBF belt to the IBO and WBA belts he already held with a devastating display that saw the referee, Steve Willis, halt the fight midway through the 8th round.
The win means Golovkin has taken his record to 34-0 with 31 wins coming by way of the big KO. Also, the stoppage last night, in New York, means that the stoppage was his 21st consecutive knockout.
Golovkin started the fight well, beating Lemieux to the jab and winning the early rounds. The concussive punching power of Golovkin started to wear Lemieux down and a powerful body-shot had Lemieux on the canvas in the 5th round.
The punishment intensified in the 7th round and Lemieux was in trouble, his nose was bleeding and it seemed only a matter of time before the fight would be stopped.
The end came in the 8th with Golovkin pounding his opponent and the referee stepped in to prevent Lemieux from getting seriously hurt.
After the fight, boxing?s superstar, Golovkin, had this to say,
?I give all my fans a present.
?David, he?s a good fighter, and a very strong guy. My goal is to win all the belts in the middleweight division. Who?s next doesn?t matter to me. I want whoever wins the Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto fight.?
As for Lemieux he, naturally, saw events slightly different, remarking after the fight,
?There were some rounds that were pretty close.
?I was just waiting to connect. I?m not too sure about the stoppage. I could have continued. I?ll meet him in the future. I want things to be settled in the near future. There were shots that I took too long to throw. I?ll give him the respect, but hopefully in the near future I?ll get my chance again.?
The New York crowd obviously disagreed with Lemieux?s assessment of the fight roundly booing him.
In my opinion Golovkin was a class above his opponent and will go on to unify the division before moving up to super-middleweight, the guy is a natural star.
Golovkin Stops Lemieux in Round 8
