WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin dominated a game Curtis Stevens to move to 28-0 and retain his titles with yet another stoppage win.
The Kazakhstan fighter had Stevens down in the second with a sweet left hand. He proceeded to stay on top for the duration.
In vain, the American tried to close the distance between them to get inside but ‘GGG’ was just too strong.
Golovkin gradually wore Stevens down round by round. At the end of the eighth, the challenger’s corner pulled him out.
With the win, the feared puncher recorded his 25th career knockout.
Talk is rife that the 31-year-old could now move up to 168lbs to secure big fights against Carl Froch and Andre Ward. Although Golovkin himself named the 160lb division’s other stars, Sergio Martinez and Peter Quillin as his next targets.
In the chief support, Mike Perez engaged in a brutal ten-round war with Magomed Abdusalamov. He came out on top in the end 97-92 (twice) and 95-94 on the scorecards.
Both unbeaten and heavy-handed, Perez and Abdusalamov never took a backward step throughout the clash.
They had the crowd in New York on their feet at the end of the ten rounds.
Perez now moves closer to a world title fight in 2014.
Abdusalamov can come again, although may have to take some time out after suffering some severe facial damage.
AFOLABI
Also on the bill, Ola Afolabi was too sharp for Lukasz Janik as the Briton claimed the vacant IBO cruiserweight belt.
The 33-year-old was unlucky to come away with just a majority win after proving to be the better fighter of the two as the judges handed in cards of 117-111, 115-113 and 114-114.
The contest was a scrappy affair as Janik tried to nick the rounds, with Afolabi only turning it on when he needed to, doing enough to secure the fight eight rounds to four on my card.
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