Boxing has it's upsets, it has it's real moments of magic and it also has it's moments that leave us empty. Tonight we had had an upset that shook the boxing world, as Srisaket Sor Rungvisai out battled and out fought Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez to claim the WBC Super Flyweight title, in an upset of the year contender. Around 1 hour later we saw the Middleweight division leave us with a foul taste.
That taste has been left due to a poor decision by the judges that left the WBC, IBF, IBO and WBA “Super” titles all with Kazakh Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33) who seemed to be out boxed, out though and out sped by American Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29). In fact it seemed so clear that Jacobs won that that it really will be one of the bouts that ends up being discussed as the “robbery of the year” come December. The fight started tentatively, with both men showing a lot of respect to the other man. Coming in both were vaunted punchers and both were considered real dangers to the other, meaning that the tentative nature was understandable. The first 3 rounds were all close, they were too tentative to really call a clear winner, but if there was a man coming off better in them it was Jacobs, who seemed to out land and out skill a rather predictable and overcautious Golovkin. The Kazakh did land some solid jabs, but their American just seemed to land the more varied and more consistent leather. The first really clear round was round 4, a round that saw Golovkin's power secure him the round with a knockdown. The knockdown wasn't a heavy one, and Jacobs looked like he was hungrier afterwards, but it was a knockdown that essentially put Golovkin back into the picture. The success Golovkin had in round 4 seemed to inspire him in the following round, but Jacobs stood his ground more often and although he was tagged a fair bit he was firing back, using his better speed and lateral movement to more than hold his own. Having realised he could take Golovkin's power Jacobs had a sensational 6th round, which saw him really take the fight to Golovkin and land some seriously big leather on to the Kazakh. Golovkin did well to never look hurt, but the bombs were landing from Jacobs who looked like he was building in confidence. That confidence continued to grow with Jacobs again having sustained success in round 7, despite taking some heavy shots late. Golovkin seemed to sense the fight was slipping away and came out for round 8 faster than he had earlier on. It was a good start by the Kazakh but by the end of the round Jacobs seemed to have done enough with his combinations and to impress and to over-come the slow start to the round, Jacobs was becoming over-confident at times and that was most obvious in round 9 when he was wobbled big time, following a big uppercutt and right hand from the Kazakh who looked close to dropping Jacobs for a second time. The American, to his credit, withstood the assault, hold and saw his way through the round. It seemed like it would be the start of a charge from Golovkin but in round 10 Jacobs was again the man shining with a number of big left hands and a lovely flowing variety from his shots. The American didn't looked phased in round 11 either when Golovkin tried to turn the screw and instead the was Jacobs who seemed to land the better shots, though Golovkin landed the single best shot which was a cracking uppercutt. Going in to the final round it seemed like Golovkin would need a stoppage to retain his title, he however struggled to connect with much cleanly. It was a round he won but not one that saw him hurt Jacobs. At the end it felt like a fight like Jacobs had won, despite the knockdown. He neutralised Golovkin, for the most part, he hand landed the eye catching flurries, he had boxed brilliantly through the fight and it looked like he felt he'd won whilst Golovkin looked like he felt he'd lost. Despite the bout feeling like a close but clear win for Jacobs, the judges all disagreed, scoring it 114-113 and 115-112, twice, in favour of Golovkin. The Kazakh had seemingly gotten out of jail with 3 very cards, in a bout that he really didn't do enough to win. Interestingly the final round, which Golovkin won with ease, was essentially the thing that turned a split decision into a unanimous decision. One thing we will admit is that bout does seem to have split fans, with plenty suggesting that Golovkin's jab was the key punch and earned him the win. Whilst we can see the argument that Golovkin's jab was the most significant punch during the fight, we can't help but feel that it wasn't ever enough to overcome the combinations of Jacob's on the whole.
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For the second time in the space of 24 hours fight fans saw a farcical world title fight as Kazakh destroyer Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32) scarcely broke a sweat defending his WBA “super”, IBF, and WBC “interim” Middleweight titles against the previously unbeaten unbeaten IBF mandatory challenger Dominic Wade (18-1, 12).
The fight, which saw odds of 1/100 on Golovkin was a clear mismatch before it was made, though Wade had spoken the big talk, claiming that he would “break” Golvokin's face and that he was a “thug”. Sadly for Wade that big talk did nothing for him and by the end of the opening round Wade had been dropped, looked like a fish out of water and had scarcely landed a blow of his own. Golovkin hadn't gone hell for leather, in fact Golovkin hadn't even got out of first gear, but was in complete control. Wade was saved by the bell at the end of the opening round, but that scarcely helped with Golovkin licking his lips for round 2. In the second round Golovkin took a few shots, almost by choice, before heavily dropping Wade for a second time. This time it looked like the end but Wade, to his credit got to his feet, then got given a significant amount of extra time as the referee repeatedly asked him to verbally confirm that he wanted to continue. That however was a mistake and only seconds later Golovkin dropped him for a third time, and final, time. Having been stopped Wade became the latest in a growing line of "good boys" that Golovkin has been slicing through in the division's B-tier, it's a shame however that he can't get a prime top contender in the ring. Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31) continued his dominance of the Middleweight division this past Saturday as he scored an 8th round TKO win over the brave but out matched David Lemieux (34-3, 31). The win, for Golovkin, saw him adding the IBF Middleweight title to his WBA “super” and WBC “interim” belts and take another step towards a total unification of the division.
The fight started tactically for Golovkin who fought behind his accurate and hurtful jab. For the first 4 rounds it was all about the jab which was wonderfully effective as an offensive weapon and seemed to slowly but surely destroy Lemieux's confidence. The Canadian, a vaunted puncher himself, was essentially boxed out of the first for the first 4 rounds as Golovkin showcased little more than just his boxing. In round 5 we saw Golovkin's power as he dropped Lemieux. The knockdown, which came from a body shot, saw Lemieux drop to a knee and sadly the Kazakh showed a little bit of naughtiness as he landed a cheap shot on Lemieux. It was something he apologised for, and something we hadn't seen from him before, but it was perhaps his one dark moment of the fight. Lemieux, who didn't play up the cheap shot, got back to his feet but was never in the bout as Golovkin continued to toy with him, landing his jab at will and mixing up his arsenal as and when he wanted to. The power and accuracy told with Golovkin messing up the nose of the Canadian, who's face looked to be getting broken up for sheer accumulation. With Lemieux being slowly but surely broken down referee Steve Willis seemed to be looking for an opportunity to stop the bout which he found in round 8 when Lemieux was on the receiving end of more powerful blows form Golovkin. With the win it seems likely we'll see Golovkin continue his pursuit for the WBC and WBO titles. For Lemieux however it ends his short reign as a world champion and will likely send him back to Canada, where he will remain a big draw but one with a tarnished legacy after this defeat. The Middleweight division is certainly an interesting one right now, though it's also a frustrating one with one man ripping through the contenders but unable to get a big fight. That man is Kazakh destroyer Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30) who retained his WBA “super”, IBO and WBC “interim” this past Saturday as he recorded his 20th successive stoppage and over-came the skilful Willie Monroe Jr (19-2, 6). Not only did Golovkin over-come the challenge of his American opponent but he became the first fighter to stop Monroe. The opening round was a close one with Monroe circling around the ring and having some success with his own quick sharp punches. Unfortunately for the challenger he was forced to work really hard for his success and was forced to take some very solid shots. To his credit Monroe took the shots well but it seemed clear that Monroe was going to have to work amazingly hard to have any real success, and was never really going to get Golovkin's respect. The second round was the most dominant, by far. Monroe was again on his feet and dancing around to begin with but was caught in the corner part way through the round and was dropped by a monster left hook. The challenger showed his bravery to get up but was sent down again only moments later as Golovkin smelled blood and went for the kill. Monroe saw off the storm with the bell coming to his aid though it seemed that that was going to be it. Amazingly Monroe took the minute break between rounds 2 and 3 and came back looking a new fighter and actually took the fight to Golovkin as the two men stood in front of each other and took turns in landing shots. It was a great comeback round for Monroe, who appeared to land the higher number of shots, but it seemed that Golovkin had no respect at all for the challenger and was happy to take a few clean shots in the hope of inducing a mistake. Monroe's confidence from round 3 grew significantly the following round. That growing confidence saw Monroe letting his hands go happily through the round and it was by far his best round as Golovkin seemed happy to let Monroe fight. Golovkin did land some of his own shots but it was a Monroe round and it was well won by the challenger, who really had to grit his teeth. It was clear that if Monroe was going to win more rounds he was going to have to have an amazing engine. Unfortunately however it seemed that he was being broken down mentally by Golovkin, who lost the round but won the mental battle. The action swung back in Golovkin's favour in round 5 as he began to break up Monroe's face. Not only was Monroe running low on energy but he was continuing to take heavy shots from the champion who seemed to enjoy the fact that Monroe was trying to fight rather than just survive. Sadly for Monroe his survival didn't last long. Early in the 6th he was rocked, his legs buckled and Golovkin went for the kill. Soon afterwards Monroe was on the ropes, taking hard shots, his movement was gone and his was a sitting duck until he was finally dropped. He looked to be aware and took the count on a knee, until rising just after the 10 count. The referee had every right to stop the action there and then but instead had a look at Monroe, before deciding that enough was enough. After the fight Golovkin indicated that he wanted big bouts next. The two he seemed to want the most were Miguel Cotto and Saul Alvarez though we suspect he may need to find a different opponent with Cotto and Alvarez apparently having plans to face each other. Despite needing to wait we are expecting to see the Kazakh in the ring twice more before the year is out. Th sport of boxing has some special fighters. Two of those, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao, announced on Friday night that they have reached an agreement to fight in May Another of those fighters fought just 24 hours later and proved how great he was with a really nasty beat down of a tough and determined challenger.
That third special fighter is, of course, Middleweight sensation Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29) who retained his WBA “super and WBC “interim” world titles with one of his most impressive performances to date. Battling against the Martin Murray (29-2-1, 12) of the UK, Golovkin showcased all the things that make him special whilst also showing a few new things to his arsenal. The fight began somewhat slowly and frustratingly as Murray decided the best line of defence was holding. It was a clever tactic from the challenger in some ways through he was still forced to take hard jabs between the breaks. Strangely when Murray did let his hands go in a positive manner he did look good though it was clear, even in the first round, that he lacked the power to make Golvokin respect him. The holding was again seen in the second round, though it was Murray's best round of the fight as he managed to get through with a lot of good shots of his own, especially to the body of Golovkin. What made things difficult for Murray was his willingness to back up to the ropes where he was a sitting duck for some of Golovkin's work even if the champion wasn't landing too many clean and hurtful shots. Having taken a couple of rounds to get through the gears Golovkin managed to break through for the first time at the end of round 3 as he seemed to wobble Murray in the final seconds of the. It was the first chink in Murray's armour and the first time Golovkin had managed to really hurt the challenger. With Murray being wobbled at the end of the 3rd round it seemed that Golovkin could smell blood and in round 4 he upped the ante. This saw Golovkin targeting the body of the challenger who was down twice in the round as he took a battering. For the first time the bout was really looking like a mismatch and for the first time Murray was completely unable to neutralise the Golovkin offense. The best the challenger could manage at times was an occasional low blow that did little more than slow Golvokin down for just a few milliseconds before he was back on the offensive. Although down twice in the 4th Murray showed a lot of guts, heart and toughness to get to his feet, twice, and continue the round. At the time it seemed pointless though it was the courage of the challenger who was refusing to just lose after 12 minutes of the fight. With his body aching and breaking Murray then felt the full force of Golovkin's attack up top as his face burst open with his nose bleeding heavily. The blood and pain didn't stop the challenger who tried to fight back and landed a number of eye catching shots, including an eye catching right hand that did little more than bounce off the champion who showed his chin before firing off his own arsenal of punches later, including a beautiful double uppercut late in the round a huge right just before the bell. Having fallen a mile behind on the cards Murray than mounted a few solid rounds in the middle of the bout as he managed to hold centre ring for some prolonged moments. Although rounds 6 and 7 were better for Murray they weren't rounds he won, in fact he took much better than he gave and in fact Golovkin evened seemed happy for Murray to land some of his sharp combinations with the shots literally bouncing off the champion. So comfortable was Golovkin that he even started to look for his now infamous “top of the head” shot that he stopped Marco Antonio Rubio with, and he tried landing it with both hands. With Murray having had a couple of moderately successful rounds it seemed like he could mount a bit of a fight back. Those thoughts were quickly ended in round 8 as Golovkin put on a beating on Murray who ended the round wobbling and doing little more than surviving. It seemed as though the Brit was all in and that he was essentially running on fumes and surviving on toughness alone. It was clear he was needing a knockout but he had never managed to do little more than irritating Golovkin with counters in the first 8 rounds. In the 9th we again saw Murray irritate Golovkin who seemed willing to take a few shots in the hope of finding the perfect counter. The opportunity for Golovkin didn't come but it was obvious that Murray's best hope was to see out the distance. Golovkin however had different plans and in round 10 he against dropped the challenger, scoring his 3rd knockdown of the bout. By the end of the 10th Murray was looking gone, he had wobbled to his corner and seemed like he needed saving. His corner should, really, have done their job there but instead they sent him out for the 11th. It was to be a foolish move from Murray's corner and within a minute he was stopped as he was on his way down again from another Golovkin assault. Although Murray had taken Golovkin into the 11th round it was hard for the challenger to take too many positives from the bout. He had spent much of the bout surviving and although his toughness was impressive he was completely out classed, out powered, out muscled and out fought. He had given his all and the best he could do was land a few clean shots here and there whilst being broken down round after round. The big plus from Golovkin's point of view however was that he had managed to answer another question fans had regarding him. He had managed to prove he had stamina, he looked like he had plenty in reserve at the finish and although he had slowed at times he had never really looked like he was gassing. He also managed to again prove his chin as he took some sharp counters with out even flinching. For Golovkin it seems like a summer return is inevitable, possibly a WBC world title fight against Puerto Rican legend Miguel Cotto. The questions for Murray's future however, are much harder to answer and he may well be considering his future options following the first clear loss of his professional career. Despite Mexico's Marco Antonio Rubio (59-7-1, 51) failing to make weight for arguably the biggest fight of his career it didn't stop Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28) from continuing his rise to super stardom and really punishing the Mexican with a 2nd round stoppage to record yet another KO victory.
The first round was an interesting one. Rubio looked huge. We kid you not there looked like a full weight class between the two fighters and it looked as if Rubio thought the weight would help him take the power of Golovkin and fire back. In the end all the weight did was cost him serious money and he went on to lose the opening round with Golovkin quickly settling into his rhythm, despite Rubio having a handful of moments. After the end of the first round Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, told Golovkin to take his time. It appeared clear that the fighter himself didn't want to listen to his trainer and Golovkin went straight onto the front foot, applying constant pressure and unloading heavy shots at Rubio. Those shots were amazing to watch and included a monster body shot that Rubio some how took, a massive uppercut that scrambled Rubio's senses and a bizarre left hook that landed on top of Rubio's head and dropped him. Rubio appeared to be some what more shocked than hurt by the knock down though stayed down for the count before complaining about the stoppage. It seemed that even the teak tough Mexican had lost his bottle against Golovkin who secured his 18th straight stoppage and moved through yet another contender in the Middleweight division. After the fight Golovkin continued to say he was targeting the other champions in the division, particularly WBC champion Miguel Cotto. On this performance we'd understand Cotto doing all he could to avoid Golovkin, afterall he'd almost certainly be destroyed by the power punching Kazakh monster who actually added the WBC interim title to his collection which already included the WBA "super" title and the IBO belt. Whether Golovkin is the best fight in the middle divisions or not is up for debate but he is clearly the most destructive fighter there and it's hard to see anyone beating him with performances like this. In this sport there are a number of genuinely sensational fighters. Not a lot of them but a small minority of fighters are really exceptional. One of those fighters is Kazakhstan's WBA Middleweight Super champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27) who scored his 17th straight stoppage and recorded his 11th title defence just a few moments ago. Golovkin took on what was supposed to be his toughest test so far, Australian Daniel Geale (30-3, 16). Geale was a former double world champion, in fact he was a former unified champion. That however didn't help the Australian who lasted less than 3 rounds against Golovkin and became just another victim of the man known as "GGG". The opening round was the best round for Geale who came to fight and had several moments of success though was tagged late in the round by a flurry. Oddly the round seemed to last around 4 minutes though nothing too dramatic happened in the extra minute. Although Golovkin seemed to do enough to win the round it was certainly one of his more difficult recent rounds with Geale showing his confidence and slippery movement to make the Kazakh miss several shots. Although Geale had a relatively comfortable opening round, barring the late flurry that stole the round for Golovkin, the second saw the champion starting to pick up the action and cutting the distance off more effectively. The extra work from the champion helped him score the first knock down of the fight, though it was a somewhat flash knockdown that occurred with Golovkin cuffing him rather than blasting him down. The pressure of Golvokin seemed to be building round after round and around 2 minutes into round 3 Golovkin managed to force Geale into a corner where he managed to connect with several solid shots. Geale's footwork helped him out momentarily though he was quickly cornered on the opposite side of the ring. From there on the end was nigh with Golovkin landing two solid shots, one to the body and one to the head. Geale took them, just, and fired back a huge right hand that caught Golovkin clean, unfortunately for the Australian he was tagged himself almost instantaneously and sent down hard. Geale, much to his credit, got to his feet, though shook his head when asked if he was okay to continue, effectively admitting defeat rather than taking a more serious and prolonged pounding. After the fight Golovkin was asked who he wanted to fight and mentioned the names of the other 3 Middleweight champions, Sam Soliman, Peter Quillin and Miguel Cotto. Of the 3 it seems that Golovkin wants WBC champion Miguel Cotto though in all honesty we don't imagine that Cotto wants Golovkin and instead "GGG" will likely have to take on the less than attractive Sam Soliman or hunt other notable fights. (Image courtesy of Thegarden.com) When we talk about the most exciting and most well liked fighters it's fair to say that Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26) is amongst them. He's a star when he fights anywhere in the world and that was shown again tonight when he returned to Monte Carlo in Monaco and had fight fans from more than 100 countries watching him in action. Whilst the big issue about the fight was that US TV weren't covering the contest that didn't prevent the fight from being a big event globally and with Golvokin's exciting style that was never a doubt, despite the fact he was facing a massive underdog in the form of Osumanu Adama (22-4, 16). Adama, fighting in his second world title fight was given no chance, yet the fight was still viewed as a major contest. Unfortunately for Adama those writing off his chances were completely right with Golovkin taking control of the fight from the opening round. The power of Golovkin was on show early as he shook Adama onto his heels with the first jab he landed. It was clear that Adama was tough but he had felt the power of Golovkin and knew he'd rather not have too much of it. As a result of feeling the power Adama got on his bike and went into reverse gear trying to take the sting off Golovkin's shots. This worked for much of the first round before he was dropped right on the bell. Adama continued to try and do everything off the back foot and lost round 2 with out doing too much to fight back. Thankfully, for the sake of entertainment, Adama managed to find some confidence and fought back well in rounds 3 and 4, actually leaving Golovkin's nose bloodied in the process. Despite showing some bravery and fighting back Adama was unfortunately unable to ever get the respect of Golovkin who kept coming forward landing hard shots upstairs and downstairs. Even the biggest shots of Adama seemed to bounce off Golovkin who just kept coming forward and landing his hard shots. It was obvious that sooner or later Adama would be made to pay for his growing confidence and that almost happened towards the end of round 5 when Golovkin seemed to punch Adama across the ring. The champion, realising that Adama was starting to break down went on the offensive straight away to start round 6. Adama, doing all he could to survive spat out his gum shield and got a warning for it as it was obvious he was starting to feel the heat. The spitting out of the gum shield hardly helped Adama who was dropped soon afterwards. Amazingly Adama showed the courage to get up again but he was starting to look like a beaten man and in the opening stages of round 7 he was down again, this time from a jab. Adama got up again and tried fight back but a left hook buckled his knees and this time the referee decided enough was enough. Whilst Adama had shown bravery and heart he had been beaten up. The stoppage, when it came, may not have been the best but in all honesty Adama wasn't in the fight, he had little to offer and was way down on the cards and starting to look like a man who was breaking down. It wasn't a great stoppage but it was one that seemed inevitable and one that only served to save Adama from further damage that he really didn't need to take. Golovkin is now expected to return to US soil to fight in April as he continues to be one of the busiest fighters at the world level, that fight wi This weekend's biggest bout had the tag line "Prepare for an epic battle!". Unfortunately we got more of a damp squib as Kazakhstan's Gennady Golovkin (28-0, 25) defended his WBA Middleweight title and silenced the big mouth of American Curtis Stevens (25-4, 18). On the face of it this had the potential to be a firefight. We had two men with serious reputations as power punchers. We had Golovkin taking a 14 fight stoppage streak with him and we had Stevens giving the big old hard man routine. Unfortunately however Stevens failed to deliver on the many promises he had made. It was a classic case of a man writing checks his simply simply couldn't cash. The opening round saw Stevens causing Golovkin some issues. It wasn't that Stevens was really doing anything that special he was just frustrating Golovkin by tucking up behind a high guard and giving next to no openings. It was the guard of Stevens that really only real problem and when he managed to get around it he scored with hard shots, most notably scoring a knockdown in the second round. Unfortunately for viewers it appeared that the knockdown was the worst thing that could happen to the fight. Stevens, who was defensively minded from the off, went further into his shell trying to fight off the ropes with occasional flurries in an attempt to take Golovkin out with counters. Whilst we're not going to say that Golovkin can't be knocked out this was a strategy that didn't serve Stevens well and in fact seemed to merely frustrate Golovkin future. The champion, himself fighting with an air of caution, kept looking for holes in the defense though they were limited with only the odd shot slipping through to catch the challenger. Whilst Stevens seemed to realise that his tactics weren't going to work he struggled when he changed them. Several times the two fighters stood toe-to-toe though Stevens would be tagged and end up back on the ropes as if they were a safe heaven. Whilst it may have seemed safer than centre ring it still wasn't that safe and Golovkin eventually found more and more holes in the defenses of Stevens, most notably to the body. It seemed that if Golovkin was unable to land clean shots upstairs he'd just slowly chip away at Stevens breaking his resistance bit by bit. This included handcuffing Stevens with flurries of busy jabs as opposed to full blooded ones and a series of nasty body shots through round 8. With Stevens tiring midway through the eighth Golovkin sensed his chance and went on an all assault. Although he didn't manage to floor the challenger a second time the fight was really starting to turn against Stevens who's left eye was swelling shut and his confidence was completely gone. The American's corner seemed to know as soon as the eighth round ended that their man was done. Rather than even sitting him down they called for the referee and effectively pulled their man out, saving him for another day. Considering the pre-fight antics of Stevens, who had famously been pictured with a "GGG" coffin this really was an anti-climatic ending. Whilst Stevens may have been saved from further damage physically it's fair to say that his career may never recover from what appeared to be a bit of a quit job. Of course we'll likely be criticised for saying that but for a man who spoke the way Stevens did this really was a disappointing performance. |
World Title Results
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