Gennady Golovkin Blasts Past Matthew Macklin With Third Round Body Shot KO

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In the main event of HBO’s Boxing After Dark triple-header, middleweight slugger Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 knockouts) took on perennial contender Matthew Macklin (29-5, 20 knockouts) in a fight that was supposed to be the toughest of Golovkin’s career. Emphasis on supposed.

At the sound of the opening bell, Macklin looked to play the role of the aggressor early. While ripping shots to the body and head of Golovkin, it was interesting to see that Golovkin remained calm, calculated, and stalking in his movements around the ring. Golovkin seems tentative, but after unloading a pair of single shots, Macklin realizes that Golovkin is indeed the aggressor early on. This becomes especially true after Golovkin catches him with a shot that seems him crashing against the ropes near the end of the round, but much to Macklin’s credit, he managed to stay upright and keep throwing against the much more powerful Golovkin.

Following the momentum of the second round, Golovkin was sure to come out much more aggressive than he was in the first round. As he stalked Macklin along the ropes, Golovkin continued in his relentless attack to both the body and head of Macklin. With each shot letting off the sound of a muffled thud, it was obvious that these shots were not only effective, but they were doing hellacious amounts of damage. It’s this kind of increase in output and damage that led to Macklin being stopped in the third round.

With Golovkin smelling blood after the second round, he continued in his gameplan of forcing Macklin along the ropes and making him pay with these vicious body shots. With a single left hook to the body, Golovkin forced Macklin to drop onto the canvas, writhing in pain. As his opponent lay motionless, Golovkin simply bowed knowing that he had overcome what many thought was going to be toughest challenge of his career.

With a stoppage of this nature, especially against an opponent of Macklin’s caliber, Golovkin has proven that he is as real as they come. With his ridiculous punching power revealing itself yet again, one can only hope that it doesn’t hinder the opportunity to make some of the most exciting fighters in the division face off against each other. The man people want to see Golovkin face now is middleweight kingpin, Sergio Martinez. Whether that happens or not will remain to be seen, but if there’s one thing we can take from tonight’s performance against Macklin it’s the fact that Golovkin is hungry, and boy, is he ready.