Golovkin and Gonzalez keep undefeated records intact with vicious TKO wins
The long wait ended on Saturday for boxing fans around the world as IBO and WBC Interim Middleweight Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin squared off against fellow knockout artist and IBF Middleweight Champion David Lemieux in a title unification bout. The fight was all it promised and more, as Golovkin lived up to his reputation with a dominant eighth round technical knockout victory over Lemieux, according to fightnews.com.
Golovkin, a 2004 Olympic silver medallist from Kazakhstan, looked in control of proceedings from the opening bell and hurt the Canadian challenger with almost every punch he threw. Golovkin made excellent use of his jab throughout the fight and landed a hard combination in round 5 that dropped Lemieux to one knee. It seemed that Golovkin got caught up in the heat of the moment as he hit the kneeling Lemieux, but wasn’t reprimanded by the referee.
The spotless Golovkin would continue to hammer away at the diminished Lemieux until referee Steve Willis would put an end to the fight at 1:32 in the eighth round, after an unanswered flurry from the former. This is David Lemieux’s first loss. With the win, Golovkin now holds the WBA Super Middleweight, IBF, IBO and WBC (Interim) middleweight belts.
The co-main event of the evening saw undefeated Nicaraguan Roman “El Chocolatito” Gonzalez defend his WBC and The Ring Flyweight belts against Olympian Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria. A third round knockdown would be the beginning of the end for Viloria, as Gonzalez saw an opening and ruthlessly made the American pay. Though Viloria tried to fend off Gonzalez’s attacks, the pressure would prove too much as the fight was stopped at 2:53 of the ninth round.
The stacked card also saw another undefeated fighter keep his record unblemished as heavyweight Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz beat Argentine Matias Ariel “El Matador” Vidondo to claim the vacant WBA Interim Heavyweight title. A knockdown by Ortiz in the second round would be a precursor to a similar one in the third, which would end the fight.
In an IBF World Middleweight title eliminator, Bahamian Olympian Tureano Johnson beat Irishaman Eamonn “King Kane” O’Kane via unanimous decision in twelve rounds. O’Kane, a 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, survived two knockdowns in round one to force the fight to go all twelve rounds.