At The Forum, Inglewood, Californian fight fans got their fill of ferocity and knockdowns in headliner Golovkin vs Wade. Middleweight wrecking machine Gennady Golovkin had no mercy to spare – as usual – wasting little time introducing challenger Dominic Wade to his crunching power shots. Wade, who came to the ring unbeaten yet unheralded in most quarters, was swiftly taken out inside two rounds.
Golovkin now adds another stoppage to his twenty-plus knockout streak, defends his IBF and WBA straps, and extends his unbeaten record to a frightening 35 wins, 32 knockouts. Wade picks up his first blemish, dropping to 18 wins, 1 defeat, 12 knockouts.
For what’s it’s worth, Wade did enjoy some success in the opening round, putting his longer levers to good use, finding Golovkin with the jab, and…well, managing to do a good job of remaining vertical while under fire from a number of thunderous shots. Wade looked to be settling in somewhat, but then came the first knockdown of the night: a Golovkin right hand to the temple. Wade beat the count, was saved by the bell, but went through the ‘GGG’ grinder in the 2nd round.
Golovkin, in the all-familiar seek-and-destroy mode, methodically reigned in power shots and soon dropped his overmatched foe twice more. Wade managed to just about beat the second count, but his senses were far too derailed to beat the third following a monster right hand. Should the referee have stopped this contest a little earlier, it’s unlikely many tomatoes would have found him.
So what’s next for Golovkin? Likely the same old story: unifying the division’s belts and hopefully meeting up with Canelo Alvarez in 2016/17. Remaining Middleweight title holders are Billy Joe Saunders (WBO), Daniel Jacobs (WBA ‘Regular’) and of course Canelo Alvarez (WBC). In an ideal world, at least two of these fights would come to fruition by the end of 2016, but, boxing being boxing, we’ll just have to sit tight and see what happens.
Chime in with your take on Golovkin vs Wade in the comments, Gonzalez vs Arroyo, plus the rest of the HBO card.
