Unstoppable Golovkin wants all middleweight belts

Gennady Golovkin, the WBA Super, IBO and WBC Interim titleholder from Kazakhstan has once again proved his undefeated status at the biggest boxing arena Madison Square Garden. On October 17th Golovkin TKOed the Canadian IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux in the 8th round of the title unification fight.

As a result, Golovkin obtained his fourth middleweight title and scored the 34th victory along with the 31st KO.

Ruthless Golovkin showered Lemiuex with heavy head and body shots. The Canadian was able to land more punches in the third round and showed his best in the fifth round. But later, Golovkin landed a merciless liver shot sending Lemieux to the canvas. Although Lemieux was able to resume the fight, Steve Willis, the referee stopped the fight in the 8th round.

The Canadian disagreed with the stoppage. "I’m very disappointed the referee stopped it. I could've continued," Lemieux said.

But Willis said that he held the fighter's health as a priority. "David is very competitive fighter and as long as he was able to throw punches he was going to keep on trying but his chances of winning were decreasing as the fight went on. Against a guy like (Golovkin) he was going to get really hurt and I’m here to protect the fighter’s health and that’s my top priority," Willis said.

In support of the referee's decision, Golovkin landed 280 of 549 punches in comparison to 89 of 335 punches from Lemieux. This makes 51% of punches for Golovkin and only 27% for Lemieux.

"I am very happy. I gave my friends a big show. I am grateful to my people. I respect Lemieux, he is a good boxer. I want all the titles in the middleweight and to write a new page in the history of boxing. I want to add that I am a boxer, not a businessman. I have four titles, I hope to have more. What is next? I want to fight the winner of the Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez fight," Golovkin said after the fight.

 Golovkin also tweeted his thanks to his fans, Kazakhstanis, team and the country.

At home, in Kazakhstan Golovkin's victory became the major event. Locals jokingly said that Golovkin was the only one who could make Kazakhstanis wake up at 7 a.m. on Sunday to watch the fight due to time difference.

Vice President of AIBA and President of Kazakhstan's Boxing Federation Timur Kulibayev congratulated Golovkin on his victory. "You've once again proved to the world that there are no fighters that can stand against the Kazakhstani fighter in the ring. Your victories inspire young Kazakhstani that I am sure will preserve and increase our sports fame. I wish you good luck in your endeavors," Kulibayev said. 

Local politicians and lawmakers cheered for Triple G. Gany Kassymov, famous Kazakhstani politician even suggested rewarding Golovkin with Hero of Kazakhstan title. Lawmaker Mukhtar Tinikeev creatively dedicated a self-written poem to Golovkin. Minister of Agriculture Asylzhan Mamytbekov posted an anecdote on Golvokin’s upcoming fight on his Facebook page noting the boxer’s speed at sending his opponents to the canvas.

Before the fight, fans from Almaty and Astana including military personnel even organized a marathon in support of Golovkin. And the fighter delivered a tremendous show for his fans at MSG. 

Photos courtesy of vk.com/ggolovkin

So who is next for Golovkin? Bleacherreport prepared a list of best opponents for the undefeated knockouter. The list is topped by Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez that are facing each other on November 21 in Las Vegas. Andre Ward is number two in the list. Sergey Kovalev was placed on the third place followed by Bernard Hopkins. Finally, the last place of the best opponents for Triple G was given to Floyd Mayweather Jr who had retired earlier in September. There the sports portal agreed with Donald Trump, who visited Golovkin after the fight to congratulate on the victory and suggested he fought Mayweather.

Photo courtesy of http://larrybrownsports.com

Meanwhile, Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions said that the Kazakhstani boxer would be waiting for the winner of the Cotto-Alvarez fight.

"We always thought Canelo would be the more likely one to fight Gennady, but you have to give Miguel respect. Gennady will be at their fight and looking to fight the winner. Canelo has proven that he is wiling to get in the ring with anyone, and Cotto has been very selective in his negotiations for being middleweight champion. Whoever wins that fight will clearly will be at the top of the sport, as Gennady is. Gennady has more belts than the winner of that fight, and it would be a huge unification fight for 2016. The plan is to see what happens November 21," Loeffler said via ESPN.

Photo courtesy of vk.com/ggolovkin

By Gyuzel Kamalova