Business As Usual For Hammer-Fisted Gennady Golovkin

There are certain things in life that are as predictable as the sunset and the sunrise that mark the beginning and end of each day.

The sport of Boxing isn’t one of those things, as unpredictability is actually normal. However, one man is bucking the tend.

On Saturday night at Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut, the man recognised as the hardest punching currently active world champion delivered, as usual, what was required of him: a knockout.

The man in question is Kazakhstani Middleweight Gennady Golovkin, who moved to 27-0 with 24 knockouts to retain his International Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Association titles against two-time World title challenger and former British and European Champion Matthew Macklin in Golovkin’s seventh world title defence.

Not since the days of Julian Jackson and Gerald McClellan in the late 1980s and 1990s has a Middleweight delivered such destructive knockouts with incredible regularity that not just one division is running scared but also the division above him has also been put on notice about the one punch knockout power Golovkin brings.

It would seem to be easy to dismiss Golovkin as a one dimensional knockout artist, however, he is, in fact, a very well-schooled Eastern European fighter with 345 amateur wins against just five defeats, during a career which saw him clinch the 2004 Olympic silver medal and numerous amateur titles.

His stalking style is linked to a high work rate with an incredible accuracy, which brings much interest not just from fight fans but television networks such as HBO, who broadcasted the Macklin fight stateside but also Sky Television here in the United Kingdom.

In the first two rounds, Macklin circled around Golovkin, looking for openings in the champion’s defence while trying to avoid the power that Golovkin is in possession of.

Golovkin was successful in snapping Macklin’s head back with his hard and accurate left jab and was also scoring regularly with body too, while Macklin’s success was fleeting as Golovkin controlled the fight from the centre of the ring, standing tall and countering Macklin’s singular jabs to take the first two rounds.

Golovkin continued to stalk in the third round and scored with the left hook that saw Macklin reel back on his heels but still standing.

On seeing this, Golovkin certainly knew that he had the opportunity to hurt a game Macklin in the same manner but Macklin did score with sweeping right hooks.

The end came at 1 minute 38 seconds into the round when Golovkin felled Macklin with a brutal left hook to the ribs that paralysed Macklin long enough for referee Eddie Cotton to administer the ten count and leave Golovkin victorious with his 14th knockout in a row.

The body punch was well set up by an upper cut just before the money shot that delivered the latest edition to Golovkin’s knockout reel.

Macklin is skilful and experienced enough to perhaps come around again, while Golovkin will continue to pursue the current Middleweight king Sergio Martinez, who is an enjoying a lay off from the ring.

So it is almost certain that K2, Golovkin’s promoter, will look to keep him an active with a potential target being either Peter Quillin, the WBO champion, or the winner of Daniel Geale v Darren Barker for the IBF title.

But one thing is certain here; there is more to come from Gennady Golovkin.