GOLOVKIN EARNS 20TH STRAIGHT STOPPAGE
Las Vegas, NV-In another dominant performance WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) increases his status as one of the top fighters in the world.
Gennday “GGG” Golovkin
In front of a raucous crowd Saturday night at the Forum in Los Angeles, it became clear that in stopping middleweight contender Willie Monroe (19-2, 6 KOs), that he not only solidified himself as a great fighter but also a bonafide attraction. The top fighters in or near the division will soon run out of excuses to avoid the fighter originally from Kazakhstan.
MONROE DOWN IN ROUND TWO
Round one was the usual feel out round with Golovkin stalking, but mostly analyzing his opponent. After measuring his foe in the first, Gennady knocked Monroe down twice in round two. He rose both times unsteady but showed tremendous heart in surviving the round.
GOLOVKIN CARRIES MONROE IN MIDDLE ROUNDS
According to Golovkin’s comments in the post fight interview, he carried Monroe in the middle rounds. Monroe landed a significant number of punches, in rounds four and five. Golovkin at times goaded his opponent to keep firing. In the fourth Monroe outlanded the Kazakh 33 to 30. However Monroe had a mere six KO’s and was never a threat to hurt Golovkin. Wanting to give his paying customers more than a three round blowout, he slightly took his foot off the gas.
GGG ENDS DRAMA SHOW
Advised by trainer Abel Sanchez to get back to business in round six, he hurt Monroe and then dropped him with a volley of punches. Monroe rose at the count of nine but was wise to tell referee Jack Reiss that he was “Done”. It will be interesting to see if he can somehow get WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) to face him.
It’s obvious he wants no part of Golovkin as he elected to face former GGG victim Daniel Geale (31-3,16 KOs) next month. Mexican star Canelo Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) expressed interest in fighting Gennady after his impressive win last week. His promoter Golden Boy Promotions are still trying to negotiate a lucrative September bout with Cotto if he can get passed Geale. This leaves the middleweight KO king with very few short term options.
CHOCALATITO IMPRESSIVE IN HBO DEBUT
WBC Flyweight champion Roman “Chocalatito” Gonzalez annihilated former champion Edgar Sosa in two rounds on the televised undercard. Gonzalez showed his complete arsenal battering the past prime Sosa around the ring during the one-sided rout. After taking a sustained beating in round two the referee waived the fight off. Gonzales improves to 43-0 with 37 KO’s. Sosa staggers to 51-9, with 30 KOs. It’s clear that if HBO is going to put flyweights on their airwaves they need to make more competitive matchups moving forward. A rematch and unification bout with much improved WBA and WBO flyweight champion Juan Francisco Estrada(32-2, 23 KOs) should be next. A fight with the Mexican would do great numbers at the Forum as a co-feature with another Mexican star by the name of Canelo.
Kevin Perry