ASTANA – Kazakh professional boxer Gennady Golovkin retained his WBA and IBO middleweight titles and extended his winning streak to 29-0 with 26 knockouts by defeating Ghana’s Osumanu Adama (now 22 wins, 4 defeats) in seven rounds in Monaco on February 1. Adama became Golovkin’s 16th back-to-back KO.
It was predicted that Adama would need a miracle to beat Golovkin, and from the first seconds of the round, hope for this miracle faded. The centre was quickly taken over by the Kazakh, leaving no chance for Adama, who ran to the corners for shelter.
At the end of round one, Adama went down and the referee began a count. In round two, Adama came back strong, but the match began to look like a game of cat and mouse. Golovkin was looking to knock Adama out, throwing power punches that eventually floored him again in round six.
Judging from his expression, Adama wasn’t eager to begin the seventh, and as it turned out, final round. Golovkin almost dropped him a third time with a powerful jab and referee Luis Pabon stepped in to stop the fight.
In the past two years, Golovkin has gone from unknown to celebrated. In his earlier bouts, the boxer was underestimated, accused of choosing only opponents he knew he could knock out.
In June 2013, he triumphed over Matthew Macklin of the U.K., then American Curtis Stevens in November. Neither time was Golovkin favoured to win; both fights ended with a knockout. Macklin even needed medical attention and eventually reported broken ribs after a left hook to his liver. Stevens started rough against Golovkin but couldn’t outbox him and went down in round two in a fight that was stopped by his corner in round eight.
After every fight, Golovkin says he’ll face anyone. He’s particularly interested in getting into a ring with some of the top pound-for-pound boxers, like Floyd Mayweather, but that idea has so far been turned down by Mayweather’s camp. A more likely opponent is American super middleweight Andre Ward, who seems ready to face Golovkin.
