Quick Results: Gennady Golovkin Continues His Reign as Boxing’s “Most Feared”

Gennady Golovkin made a bold statement to be the new face of boxing when he dominated the hard-hitting David Lemieux for a middleweight unification bout last Saturday. Pay-per-view boxing bouts have been disappointing as of late, but this one justified the price-tag from top to bottom. From flyweight phenoms to hidden heavyweight talent to the next coming of a middleweight legend, these are the guys the sport should be paying focusing on. Here's a recap for all those that missed the action!

Gennady Golovkin Dominates David Lemieux Through Eight

In the main event, boxing's "most feared fighter" Gennady Golovkin took on his toughest opponent to date in David Lemieux. The fight was a methodical beatdown as Golovkin applied expert destruction behind a solid and consistent textbook jab, and went as far as throwing five times the middleweight division average of jabs within the first two rounds. Lemieux landed a handful of hard shots that gave Golovkin some pause, but nothing to truly bother the undefeated champ. A hard body shot in the 5th put Lemieux down for the second time in his career, and Golovkin accidentally landed shots both while Lemieux was down and after the bell, though was not penalized for neither offense. To his credit, Lemieux did not complain or feign hurt to gain more time, which was indicative of his unrelenting will displayed throughout the fight.

While Lemieux's devastating punching power carried a threat to change the course of the fight at a moment's notice, it was the superb technique of Golovkin that separated the two, as the Kazakh increasingly landed flush straight rights and left hook at will, and measured the distance perfectly to stay clear of any return shots. Referee Steve Willis stepped in the middle of the 8th to call a stop to the contest, as the bout was largely a one-sided beating up until that point. Lemieux, sportsman-like in his post-fight interview, thought the stoppage premature, though with the accumulation of damage and fading chances of a comeback, there was little reason for the bout to continue past its stoppage. Golovkin mentioned unifying all four belts, and a willingness to take on the winner of the Canelo Álvarez and Miguel Cotto showdown in November. With names like Cotto, Álvarez, and the possibility of Andre Ward moving down, boxing's middleweight division is heating up.

Roman Gonzalez Scores TKO Against a Valiant Brian Viloria

WBC Flyweight champion Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez took on former titlist Brian Viloria in the co-main event, and the bout was a display of technical brilliance. Gonzalez, hailing from Managua, Nicaragua, is currently ranked as the pound-for-pound number 1 on the lists of most major publications and gave an impressive showing to justify his top spot in the rankings. The first two rounds saw Viloria throwing quick and hard, though Gonzalez defended beautifully and strangely controlled the ring generalship despite not throwing many punches. The third round opened with both fighters exchanging close on the inside, and Viloria eventually tasted the canvas for the first time in his career. The remainder of the fight was a fast-paced battle of technique and one of the most exciting technical boxing matches I've seen in a while. Roy Jones compared the two fighters to a quarter horse fading off in a race against a thoroughbred, a comparison that rang true as while Viloria landed stunning shots in the beginning of the match, the pound-for-pound champ's work-rate and combination punching revealed itself to be overwhelming as the bout went on. In the 9th, Viloria landed a hard body shot that momentarily stunned the Gonzalez, only for the Nicaraguan to pin Viloria against the ropes moments later, and referee Benjy Esteves stepped in to stop the bout with 8 seconds remaining. There were no complaints from commentators, corners or fighters regarding the call, and both parties walked away with a mutual respect for one another in a fight well done. Boxing can look forward to seeing more of the pugilistic phenom named Roman Gonzalez.

Luis Ortiz Brutually KOs Matias Vidondo in Three

Second bout of the night saw the rare occurrence of Latin American heavyweights facing off in the ring with Cuba's Luis Ortiz taking on Argentina's Matias Vidondo. Commentators speculated how Ortiz is one of the most avoided heavyweights in the division given his 6-foot-4, southpaw stature and Cuban pedigree. The first round saw both fighters pawing, and searching for their range, but it would be Ortiz that found his first, coming out fast and hard in the second round, and showing an impressive display of hand-speed and combination punching. Ortiz put Vidondo down hard at the end of the second, and sealed the victory early in the third with a hard straight left that put Vidondo out for the count. Ortiz improves to 20 KOs in 23 contests and is certainly a threat to any of the major contenders in the heavyweight division. It will be interesting to see him up against someone like Wladimir Klitschko or Deontay Wilder in the future.

Tureano Johnson Outworks Eamonn O'Kane

WBC Silver Middleweight beltholder Tureano Johnson took on Ireland's Eamonn O'Kane in the opening bout. Johnson opens the match with two knockdowns in the opening round, putting O'Kane down with a right hook on both occasions, and dominates the majority of the fight with a combination of hooks and uppercuts. The bout is a typical in a phone booth fight with both guys disregarding the jab, Johnson landing only 9 jabs throughout the bout, and O'Kane landing 31. Johnson did, however, break the middleweight record previously set by Bernard Hopkins for most landed power punches by landing 396 power punches throughout the bout. Johnson wins a wide UD and is now one of the front-runners for the IBF title and could be a potential future opponent for Golovkin.