Gennady Golovkin v Curtis Stevens

Some fights look like real mismatches on paper and this weekends biggest fight was one such bout as Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25) entered as an 11-1 favourite against American Curtis Stevens (25-4, 18). Surprisingly however Golovkin didn't often look like such a big favourite through out the bout as he struggled to live up to the hype, despite successfully defending his WBA Middleweight title.

The fight started in a very quiet manner. Golovkin tried to get his jab going but Stevens was showing good defensive skills and making the champion struggle to land cleanly. The quiet 2 minutes 30 seconds of the first was only really changed late in the round as Stevens connected with a few hard shots that may have stole him in round.

Golovkin's struggles continued through much of the second round as Stevens covered up well and gave very few opportunities to the champion. The success of Stevens in neutralising Golovkin raised a "USA" chant from the Madison Square Garden crowd though unfortunately this immediately backfired as Golovkin connected with a glancing left hook followed by a solid left hook that dropped Stevens for an 8 count. It was obvious from this point that Golovkin's power could hurt and drop Stevens.

Unfortunately the knockdown seemed to kill off what confidence Stevens was building and the challenger fought very much like a scared fighter in the following round backing up, covering up and trying to survive. This saw Stevens having some success in little bursts on the counter but on the whole Stevens's success in round 3 was very limited.

Despite beginning to look like a beaten man in round 3 Stevens had his best round in the fourth as he landed several hard counters and backed up Golovkin late in the round. It appeared that Stevens had forgotten about the knockdown and thought his best tactic was fighting off the ropes looking to land his highly regarded left hook. Unfortunately when Stevens did land the best he did was force Golovkin backwards for a few seconds before he came right back Stevens.

Golovkin started to have more and more success from round 5 onwards. He seemed confident in his ability to take Steven's best shots and applied constant calculated pressure. The champions successes were still somewhat limited but the challenger was doing next to nothing to make a claim for the rounds. Stevens was doing so little that he was being out worked even if Golovkin was struggling to land too many clean shots.

The success of round 5 grew the following round and then again in round 7. Steven's corner were trying to buoy their man and telling him to stand toe-to-toe with Golovkin, unfortunately when he did this he was forced on to the back foot with Golovkin's crisp punches forcing him back on to the ropes. By the end of round 7 it appeared that Stevens's only hope was to land a knock out punch, something that was becoming less and less likely.

By the start of round 8 Golovkin had really started to take over. Stevens's assaults were becoming less frequent and through the eighth Golovkin himself had started to find his range, especially with his body shots which landed numerous times through the round. Stevens's defenses, whilst still solid were beginning to be cracked more and more frequently by Golovkin who finally turned things up a gear and went for the kill.

Although Stevens managed to see out round 8 his corner had seen enough and immediately called for the referee to stop the bout. It hadn't been a real beating for their man but it appeared that he was on the verge of receiving one as Golovkin began to really show his class. The stoppage may feel to some as though Stevens quit though in all honesty it appears that his corner knew things were only going to get worse and saved their man from what could have been a career and health altering beat down. A wise move considering the way the bout had began to turn.

Although Golovkin hadn't looked like the 11 to 1 favourite for much of the bout he was safe money in the end.

Gennady Golovkin v Matthew Macklin

WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24) was expected to be given his first real test by Britain's Matthew Macklin (29-5, 20) instead however Golovkin merely showcased his talents in yet another impressive performance.

For the first 30 seconds of the bout Macklin had some success with his jab though it didn't take long for Golovkin to realise that Macklin had nothing to be afraid off and started to stalk with bad intentions. The champion was cutting the ring off perfectly it was obvious by the end of the round that Macklin's confidence was completely gone.

In round 2 Golovkin started to let his hands go a bit more and appeared to hurt Macklin almost immediately. Everything that Golovkin landed appeared to hurt Macklin even the jabs were sending the challenger backwards and in fact Macklin appeared to be holding more often than punching as he merely tried to survive. Of the few punches that Macklin did throw here and there he did get through with a number of them, including a right hand that just bounced off the head of Golovkin with no effect.

With Macklin realising that plan was using wasn't working he switched to "Plan B" and showed some genuine offense, this turned out be a bad move as he was caught by a counter himself. Just a few seconds later the Brit was on the ropes and forced to take an hellacious body shot that sent him down for the count.

For Macklin it wasn't 3rd time lucky though as he admitted himself Golovkin was the best fighter he had ever faced-there's no shame in losing to the best. Another chance for Macklin may appear down the line and he may stand a chance but his agony should serve as a serious reminder to the division of just how hurtful and spiteful Golovkin's shots are.

Golovkin, who many felt had been picking on 154lb fighters has again shown that he can do what wants in the ring and that he can take opponents out with relative ease to either the head or body. Whilst it's obvious that he wants a fight with Sergio Martinez, it's hard to imagine that bout actually happening and that Martinez would be more likely to retire rather than get in the ring with "GGG"

Gennady Golovkin v Nobuhiro Ishida

WBA and IBO Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23) once again showed why he is so highly spoken about in boxing circles as he stopped Japanese challenger Nobuhiro Ishida (24-9-2, 9) in chilling fashion.

The opening round was somewhat even as Ishida showed his bravery and even seemed to be willing to trade jabs at times with the champion. Although Ishida showed his bravery through the round he clearly lost it and in all honesty it was little a round that Golovkin fought in first gear.

Golovkin started to open up in round 2 as he hurt Ishida for the first time and started to land almost anything he wanted. There was hooks, jabs, straights and uppercuts all from the champion who managed to snap back the head of Ishida time and time again. Although Ishida had been hurt he was never really in any great trouble as he showed solid durability.

It appeared at the end of round 2 that Golovkin was going through the gears and it seemed that he went up a gear or two to start round 3. Although Ishida landed what looked like a monster right hand of his own Golovkin all but walked through it and landed a huge sweeping hook soon afterwards as he started to force Ishida on to the back foot. Sadly for Ishida fighting on the back foot did him few favours and he was forced to take a massive right hand that sent him through the bottom ropes and to canvas in eye catching fashion.

Hopefully for Golovkin he'll return to the ring in just a few months against a more notable opponent than Ishida though after this performance I can't imagine many wanting to get in the ring with him. For Ishida however this result likely ends his run of high profile bouts (which has seen him facing James Kirkland, Paul Williams, Dmitry Pirog and now Golvokin).

Gennady Golovkin v Gabriel Rosado

WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (25-0, 22) was successful in his second bout on US soil as he defeated the incredibly brave Gabriel Rosado (21-6, 13) when Rosado's trainer called for the inspector to stop the fight with Rosado starting to take a bit of a beating.

The first round was incredibly quiet as Golovkin stalked Rosado with a huge amount of pressure though sadly little was landed by either man as Rosado used his legs to stay out of Golovkin's range. This same pattern continued through the second round, though Golovkin did have some notable success in the second with a jab that cut Rosado near the left eye.

Rosado started round 3 with his first major success of the fight as he came forward and had 90 seconds of genuine success as he forced Golovkin on to the back foot. Sadly for Rosado his success came at a cost as Golovkin unleashed on him late in the round as he started to land his own power shots, one of which seemed to really rock Rosado. By the end of the round Rosado's cut was starting to look worse as Golovkin's power started to really take it's toll on Rosado's flesh.

Sadly for Rosado it seemed that no matter what he did Golovkin just took, especially in round 4, when he landed a huge right hand and in round 5 where Rosado seemed to realise he had to try and fight Golovkin off him. Sadly when you try to fight Golovkin off you merely seem to piss him off. By the end of the fifth Rosado's nose was bloody, his face was filling into a bloody mess. Through the sixth round Golovkin really went to town and rocked Rosado with a body shot before further worsening the cuts that the Dr had looked at at the start of the round.

By now it was obvious that Rosado wasn't going going to quit, though unfortunately for him he was simply out gunned and took a real beating in the seventh round that eventually caused his corner to throw in the towel to save their man any further punishment. By now Rosado was running on fumes and giving little more than a blood donation to all at ringside.

As a class act by Golovkin, the champion did invite Rosado to his gym to train in the future, and it sees a mutual bond between the two was formed as both seemed highly complimentary of the other.

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.