NEW YORK, NY(Oct. 17) – In front of a sold out Madison Square Garden arena in New York, rising star Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin clashed with tough Canadian slugger, David Lemieux. The encounter was a unification bout in which Golovkin put his IBO/WBA/interim WBC belts on the line against the IBF middleweight belt of Lemieux. The event was the pay-per-view debut of Golovkin and was a fight in which he faced the most dangerous test of his career.

The fight started at a measured pace – not surprisingly being that both men are known for their knockout power – but it was Golovkin who took control by using his jab to control the range. David Lemieux was nullified by the jab and wasn’t able to impose his will as he often does from the start of his fights.

In the second round, Golovkin picked up the pace and moved forward, looking to land his signature power shots. The Canadian fighter had no answer for the jab and missed all of the lunging shots he attempted. The technical superiority of the 2004 silver medalist was quite apparent in the early rounds. By the fourth round, Golovkin began closing in and managed to hurt Lemieux with a crippling body shot, but the IBF champ managed to survive the round.

By the fifth round, ‘GGG’ was in clear command of the bout and Lemieux began to look in desperation mode. It was clear that to have any success, Lemieux would have to be aggressive and put himself in harms way, and he had success as he landed his first meaningful punch by attacking with more force. Lemieux’s success was short lived though, as ‘GGG’ landed a hard left hook to the liver which made the Canadian champ crumble to a knee. The round ended shortly after the knockdown.

In the following rounds, David Lemieux began taking more chances, seeing as he was slowly getting picked apart. In the sixth round he landed his signature left hook which stopped Gennady in his tracks. Golovkin continued his calculated attack and with each jab landed he bloodied the nose of his opponent more and more. The body attack of Golovkin also continued and with each thudding shot he drained the energy of the fast charging Lemieux.

In the eighth round, the IBO champ landed yet another hard combination which was punctuated with a left hook to the body. The shot made Lemieux grimace in pain and referee Steve Willis stepped in and stopped the bout before ‘GGG’ unloaded any more punishment. Gennady Golovkin TKO 8.

The stoppage came after eight rounds of a thorough dominating performance by the Kazakhstan native. The technical ability of Golovkin was too much to handle and it reminded everyone that he is not just a devastating knockout artist, but also a skillful craftsman in the ring. With the win, Golovkin’s record moves to 34-0 with 31 KO’s and it further advances him in terms of gaining recognition as one of the best fighters in the sport today.

After the fight, Gennady Golovkin voiced his desire to unify the middleweight division by facing the remaining champions. Andy Lee currently holds the WBO middleweight crown and Miguel Cotto hold the WBC belt, which he will be putting on the line on his November showdown with Mexican star, Saul Alvarez. A fight with the winner of the Cotto-Canelo fight would be one of the bigger middleweight fights in recent years and would certainly be a pay-per-view success. Whether Golovkin will be able to face either of the champions in his next fight remains to be seen, but with his victory over David Lemieux, he has shown that he is the most formidable fighter in the division.

Golovkin has shown himself to be a cross over star, much like that of Manny Pacquiao when he came and took America by storm, Golovkin has captured the attention of the boxing fans and has become a must see fighter. With 21 straight knockout wins and proving himself a draw by selling out the mecca of boxing in Madison Square Garden, Golovkin looks to become the next big attraction in the sport and with dominant performances like that of this Saturday night will go a long way to establishing ‘GGG’ as a PPV star.