LONDON: The world’s top-ranked middleweight Gennady Golovkin wants another fight in Britain after stopping Kell Brook and is targeting a unification bout with Billy Joe Saunders.
Golovkin defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles with a fifth-round stoppage at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
Golovkin’s punishingly accurate blows took their toll on Brook, whose corner threw in the towel.
Brook was taken to hospital to be treated for a suspected fractured right eye socket
Golovkin, whose World Boxing Association (WBA) belt was not on the line, now wants to fight Brook’s fellow Briton and World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Saunders before moving on to Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a year’s time.
Saunders has the only world middleweight belt not held by WBC-WBA-IBF champion Golovkin, who made Brook his third British victim after Martin Murray and Matt Macklin
“First of all Billy Joe Saunders, and then Canelo,” Golovkin, 34, told a news conference. A fight against Saunders could be made for late this year or early 2017, though a mandatory WBA defense could delay those plans.
“My goal is to hold all the belts in the middleweight division. I would like Billy Joe Saunders first of all because he has the WBO belt.
“I would absolutely come back to the UK to fight. Absolutely I love the UK, I’m a big fan of London.”
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler cautioned that the US-based Kazakhstan boxer may have to fight American Danny Jacobs in a WBA mandatory defense.
“If we can’t make the Daniel Jacobs fight then maybe we do a unification fight,” Loeffler said.
“We tried to make that (Saunders) fight before in the UK and it didn’t go very far. Maybe they will see the reaction and there will be more of an incentive to get in the ring.
“Gennady is open to fight anyone. The WBA is going to order a mandatory with Danny Jacobs, so we will see how that goes. Hopefully we can make it.”
Brook, the IBF world welterweight champion, had stepped up two weight divisions to fight the fearsome Kazakh.
The fighter from Sheffield boxed with immense courage against the naturally bigger man, perhaps edging the second round.
“In the first round I felt I’m stronger. In the second round I wanted a street fight and a brawl,” admitted Golovkin.
“I believe he’s strong but he’s not a middleweight. I didn’t feel power,” Golovkin added.
“He didn’t hurt me at all. There were a lot of punches, but I didn’t feel them.”
Golovkin’s accurate punches began to trouble the Briton from the third round.
Brook was blinking and his vision seemed hampered as Golovkin began to dominate.
In the fifth, Golovkin’s thudding blows turned Brook’s legs to jelly and, with visible damage to his right eye, the Sheffield boxer’s trainer Dominic Ingle wisely threw in the towel.
Gonzalez becomes a four-division world champion
Unbeaten Roman Gonzalez won the World Boxing Council super flyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten champion Carlos Cuadras on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Gonzalez became the first fighter from Nicaragua to win world titles in four weight divisions, surpassing his hero and mentor Alexis Arguello.
Gonzalez improved to 46-0 by holding on in the late rounds for the win in an entertaining showdown between two unbeaten champions at The Forum arena in Los Angeles.
Mexico’s Cuadras proved to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for Gonzalez, who some consider to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cuadras looked to be the fresher of the two in the 12th round as the boxers traded punches in the center of the ring right up to the final bell.
Gonzalez, who moved up in weight class to fight for the title, won on all three judges’ cards by scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
The 27-year-old Cuadras had defended his title seven times before losing for the first time in his pro career. His record fell to 35-1-1.
Gonzalez can credit his victory to a superb start as he dominated the first half of the fight with a relentless forward attack accompanied by a variety of punches.
But Cuadras proved to be a very difficult opponent in the second half, giving Gonzalez the most formidable test of his 11-year career.
He landed straight jabs and combinations, taking the heaviest punches that Gonzalez could dish out in the 12-round slugfest.
Until Saturday, no Nicaraguan had ever won a world title in four weight classes and that includes the late legend Arguello.
Golovkin defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles with a fifth-round stoppage at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
Golovkin’s punishingly accurate blows took their toll on Brook, whose corner threw in the towel.
Brook was taken to hospital to be treated for a suspected fractured right eye socket
Golovkin, whose World Boxing Association (WBA) belt was not on the line, now wants to fight Brook’s fellow Briton and World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion Saunders before moving on to Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a year’s time.
Saunders has the only world middleweight belt not held by WBC-WBA-IBF champion Golovkin, who made Brook his third British victim after Martin Murray and Matt Macklin
“First of all Billy Joe Saunders, and then Canelo,” Golovkin, 34, told a news conference. A fight against Saunders could be made for late this year or early 2017, though a mandatory WBA defense could delay those plans.
“My goal is to hold all the belts in the middleweight division. I would like Billy Joe Saunders first of all because he has the WBO belt.
“I would absolutely come back to the UK to fight. Absolutely I love the UK, I’m a big fan of London.”
Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler cautioned that the US-based Kazakhstan boxer may have to fight American Danny Jacobs in a WBA mandatory defense.
“If we can’t make the Daniel Jacobs fight then maybe we do a unification fight,” Loeffler said.
“We tried to make that (Saunders) fight before in the UK and it didn’t go very far. Maybe they will see the reaction and there will be more of an incentive to get in the ring.
“Gennady is open to fight anyone. The WBA is going to order a mandatory with Danny Jacobs, so we will see how that goes. Hopefully we can make it.”
Brook, the IBF world welterweight champion, had stepped up two weight divisions to fight the fearsome Kazakh.
The fighter from Sheffield boxed with immense courage against the naturally bigger man, perhaps edging the second round.
“In the first round I felt I’m stronger. In the second round I wanted a street fight and a brawl,” admitted Golovkin.
“I believe he’s strong but he’s not a middleweight. I didn’t feel power,” Golovkin added.
“He didn’t hurt me at all. There were a lot of punches, but I didn’t feel them.”
Golovkin’s accurate punches began to trouble the Briton from the third round.
Brook was blinking and his vision seemed hampered as Golovkin began to dominate.
In the fifth, Golovkin’s thudding blows turned Brook’s legs to jelly and, with visible damage to his right eye, the Sheffield boxer’s trainer Dominic Ingle wisely threw in the towel.
Gonzalez becomes a four-division world champion
Unbeaten Roman Gonzalez won the World Boxing Council super flyweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten champion Carlos Cuadras on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Gonzalez became the first fighter from Nicaragua to win world titles in four weight divisions, surpassing his hero and mentor Alexis Arguello.
Gonzalez improved to 46-0 by holding on in the late rounds for the win in an entertaining showdown between two unbeaten champions at The Forum arena in Los Angeles.
Mexico’s Cuadras proved to be a surprisingly difficult opponent for Gonzalez, who some consider to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cuadras looked to be the fresher of the two in the 12th round as the boxers traded punches in the center of the ring right up to the final bell.
Gonzalez, who moved up in weight class to fight for the title, won on all three judges’ cards by scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
The 27-year-old Cuadras had defended his title seven times before losing for the first time in his pro career. His record fell to 35-1-1.
Gonzalez can credit his victory to a superb start as he dominated the first half of the fight with a relentless forward attack accompanied by a variety of punches.
But Cuadras proved to be a very difficult opponent in the second half, giving Gonzalez the most formidable test of his 11-year career.
He landed straight jabs and combinations, taking the heaviest punches that Gonzalez could dish out in the 12-round slugfest.
Until Saturday, no Nicaraguan had ever won a world title in four weight classes and that includes the late legend Arguello.
