Golovkin's KO streak at 19 with 11th-round stoppage
Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin fought into the 11th round for the first time in his career, but still extended his knockout streak to 19 in a row when his title fight against Great Britain's Martin Murray was stopped in the 11th round Saturday in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Golovkin, 32, from Kazakhstan but now living in Los Angeles, knocked Murray down three times en route to the victory and retained his WBA, IBO and interim WBC belts. He improved his record to 32-0 with 29 KOs.
The champ bloodied Murray's nose early and by the end of the fight his red and white trunks were soaked red with Murray's blood.
The fighter nicknamed "GGG" knocked Murray down twice in the fourth round and again in the 10th.
Referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight 50 seconds into the 11th after Golovkin pounded Murray in the corner with a flurry of punches to the body and the head. Pabon stopped it after Golovkin connected with a hard right to Murray's temple.
Still it was one of the most difficult fights of Golovkin's career. Murray never stopped fighting and connected early and often against Golovkin, though never appearing to hurt the champion.
Golovkin connected on 292 of 816 punches overall, while a game and tough Murray landed fewer than half of that, 131 of 469. Murray lost for the second time in his career and was stopped for the first time. His record fell to 29-2-1. His two losses and a draw all came against then-middleweight champions.
"He really showed his knockout power stays with him the entire fight," Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler told Paste BN Sports by phone after the fight. "Not just a second or third round knockout like his last two fights but showing an impressive 11th round stoppage over probably one of the toughest guys in the middleweight division.
"We have to give a lot of credit to Murray. I think he would beat most of the other champions (in the division) at this point, with what he did with Sergio Martinez in Argentina (controversial loss by decision) and the conditioning he showed against Gennady.
"But Gennady still showed he's the best middleweight in the world, With (Monaco's) Prince Albert in the first row, it was really a glamorous atmosphere here in Monte Carlo."
Both Golovkin and Loeffler said they would like to fight Miguel Cotto next.
"I want unification bout," Golovkin said.
Loeffler said a fight against Cotto makes the most sense.
"Miguel doesn't have an opponent announced yet," Loeffler said. "Canelo (Alvarez) is fighting (James) Kirkland and Mayweather is fighting Pacquiao. Gennady said he would definitely like to fight Cotto and the WBC has ordered that mandatory.
"Normally Miguel would have one voluntary defense, but there's no more marketable opponent now that Miguel could fight. It would be a unification fight, a huge event at Madison Square Garden. Gennady has headlined at the Garden (second-round knockout against former champion Daniel Geale), had strong ticket sales there and his TV ratings are high on HBO.
"It would be very strong from a marketing standpoint. Whether Cotto would take it is another story, but we have a good relationship (with Cotto's handlers). Gennady wants to show he's the best middleweight and there's no better way to show that than to fight another champion."
Loeffler said Golovkin would spend a few days in Germany to clear up some business, then "he will be back in L.A. on Friday, then will be at UFC 187, where he is coming to support Ronda Rousey, who came to his last fight at the StubHub Center."