Gennady Golovkin battered Curtis Stevens over eight one-sided rounds at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening, in a performance which earned GGG further admiration from his legion of fans, and added another HBO-televised win and title defense to his ledger. The corner of Stevens waved off the action after the 8th Round, a wise decision after their man suffered a sustained beating.
Golovkin dominated the bout, as most expected him to, making easy work of a title challenger who was way over his head against the technical skill, class and experience of Golovkin. Golovkin improves to 28-0, with 25 KOs, and further enhances his reputation as one of the sport’s best KO punchers. With the loss, Stevens falls to 25-4.
The cold, hard truth of the matter is that Stevens never belonged in the ring with Golovkin. The networks all but banned him from even owning a television, let alone appearing in a televised fight, after a dismal showing against a then 11-0 Andre Dirrell years ago. Stevens then managed a loss to Jesse Brinkley, before a very brief and very much oversold comeback of a few fights against middling opposition.
That’s not to blame Golovkin and his team. Opponents have been hard to come by for GGG, and putting this fight in MSG made sense for all parties. But let’s not make Stevens out to be anything more than he was.
For any fans who were watching the fight at home, you likely heard Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman praising a fighter who was on the very bad end of a brutal beating more than you ever had. I encourage you to watch the fight again, without their hype of the “legendary” left hook of Stevens, and see just how badly he was tormented.
Truly, the referee could have, and should have, called off the action in the 2nd Round, when Stevens couldn’t even stand straight after being sent reeling to the canvas. Instead, the fight continued, and if anything, Stevens paid the price for that, taking prolonged punishment.
So what’s next for Golovkin? Well, after the fight, he said something to the effect of:
“Sergio Martinez. Peter Quillin. I am here. I want.”
I think all fight fans would agree.
In earlier action, undefeated Cuban heavyweight scored a major upset by defeating previously unbeaten Magomed “Mago” Abdusalamov. Abdusalamov has been a heavily hyped prospect, and has legit night-ending power. But Perez was better-schooled, and sharper. He busted Abusalamov up early, and appeared to break his nose and perhaps his jaw or cheek bone.
After that, Perez was able to dictate the action throughout the remainder of the night. He displayed a great chin, as he withstood some big shots from Mago, and Mago in turn displayed great heart in continuing to wade through the pain. Great heavyweight scrap, especially compared to what else we’ve all been seeing lately in that division.
Thanks for checking out our coverage of the Golovkin vs. Stevens results and check back with us over the coming days for more post-fight updates, coverage and analysis.
