Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr v Rodel Mayol

Young Mexican Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr (15-1-1, 8) may not be a well known name in boxing circles but he's swiftly making an impact on the sport and really put a marker down this past weekend as he defended his IBF Super Flyweight title for the second time and knocked out Filipino Rodel Mayol (31-6-2, 22).

Despite looking significantly smaller, the experienced Mayol started excellently and used fantastic lateral movement to land at will on Sanchez who looked clueless. The reach advantage of Sanchez was neutralised by the movement and it was Mayol's straight right hand that seemed to be the key punch of the first 4 rounds, all clear Mayol rounds.

In round 5 the bout took a huge turn with Mayol's movement becoming slower and move limited. As Mayol slowed not only did he become less successful but he allowed Sanchez in to the bout. Whilst Sanchez was getting in the round, he was surprisingly dropped on the bell and given a count, much to his corners annoyance. Sadly for Mayol this was the start of the end.

From the start of round 6 Sanchez started to really take control of the bout as Mayol began to look like a spent force. The shots from the champion were landing cleanly time and time again and he was now starting to break down the tiring challenger. By round 8 Mayol was looking ready to go and Sanchez could feel his grip on the bout strengthening.

The bout ended in enthralling fashion as Sanchez spectacularly knocked Mayol out of the ring and scored the knockout win to retain his title in memorable fashion.

Gennady Golovkin v Grzegorz Proksa

Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21) made not only his US debut but also a real statement to the boxing world as he successfully defended his WBA Middleweight title by stopping Poland's Grzegorz Proksa (28-2, 21) in 5 one sided rounds.

The difference between the two was obvious from the opening round with Golovkin rocking Proksa late in the opener before dropping the Pole. Whilst the Pole claimed it was a slip it obvious that he had been hurt and hurt hard. The following round Golovkin continued to attack, carefully and accurately showing not only excellent shot selection but heavy handed power and unnerving composure.

Proksa's best round was round 3 though it was the only one in which the Pole didn't looked to have been hurt by Golovkin's shots. Despite it appearing like a small respite for the challenger it was still a round that champion won with his accurate shots. More than anything the round acted as the calm before the storm and in the following round Golovkin did some of his best work, dropping Proksa again and really hurting him with sickening left hooks to the body. Whilst Proksa managed to see the bell for the end of round 4 he was looking like a beaten man, his nose bloodied and his body feeling the effects of the disheartening shots.

Despite having taken a battering in the previous round the brave Proksa came out for the fifth round, it didn't long however for Golovkin to drop the Pole for a third time, this time with Proksa finishing up face first on the canvas. Despite beating the count the referee waved the bout off having seen enough to declare Golovkin the winner by TKO.

Following the bout Golovkin called out anyone between Light Middleweight and Super Middleweight, seemingly looking for the toughest and best challenges out there. He seemed open to fighting the winner of Andre Ward's up coming fight with Chad Dawson or pretty much anyone in and around those weights. The mostly likely outcome however is that Golovkin is eying up the winner of the upcoming bout between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with the new IBF/WBA "super" Middleweight champion Daniel Geale and WBO champion Dmitry Pirog as solid alternatives.

For Proksa it's likely he will return home to the UK and look for a solid rebuilding fighter, maybe even facing Darren Barker or Martin Murray as all 3 fighters attempt to get back in the title hunt. This loss however will seriously dent the Pole's confidence.