Gennady Golovkin Knocks Out Willie Monroe, Jr. In Sixth Round


Gennady “GGG” Golovkin extended his undefeated streak to 33 wins with a TKO of Willie Monroe, Jr. in a bout that continued to cement the legacy of the Kazakh middleweight. Some experts expected a more competitive fight with Monroe’s record of 19 wins with only a single loss, and the fact that Golovkin’s last bout went 11 rounds against British boxer Martin Murray.

At times, it appeared those experts were correct, there were glimmers of hope for Monroe, when he could counter when GGG attempted to attack. Monroe landed a surprising number of punches, especially in Round 4. But Golovkin landed enough to knockdown Monroe three times, twice in the second round with a pair of absolutely ferocious blows, looking to replicate the undercard fight between Gonzalez and Sosa. After a knockdown 45 second into the sixth round, Monroe was asked by referee Jack Reiss if he wanted to continue, but Monroe threw in the towel, having had enough of the onslaught.

This marks the 20th straight knockout victory for Gennady Golovkin. He has the highest knockout percentage in middleweight history. Triple G told Max Kellerman after the fight that he let Monroe back in to give paying fans their money’s worth.

”It was a good big drama show,” Gennady Golovkin told Yahoo! Sports following the fight. ”I was happy with my performance. Willie is a very tough fighter.”

With the win, Golovkin has retained his title for the 14th time as he continues his mass destruction of middleweights. But he is not satisfied, as Golovkin told Kellerman after the fight that he wants to become the unified champion.

Gennady Golovkin delighted a Southern Californian crowd of 12,372, who cheered and chanted the Kazakh’s every punch. Triple G has gone from being an unknown to stardom in less than three years. Golovkin felt that facing a southpaw counterpuncher with the pedigree of Willie Monroe would provide a unique challenge while he patiently waits for the world’s best fighters to take him on, and at times Monroe proved his toughness and elusiveness while hitting Golovkin regularly in the middle rounds.

After Monroe tagged the champion repeatedly in the fourth, according to ABC News, Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, implored his fighter to “not show how tough we are. Let’s start working.”

Golovkin made the fight with Monroe when he knew he couldn’t bring bigger names into the ring, and he brought many names after the fight, including Miguel Cotto who has a fight next month, and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez who looked decisive in his second-round knockout victory over James Kirkland just one week ago. Gennady Golovkin hopes to fight twice more this year, staying busy, and growing his reputation as one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters.

[Image Source: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]

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