Gennady Golovkin TKOs Kell Brook in five to retain middleweight title after corner stops bout

Kell Brook was finding success, particularly with the left uppercut, but it all came crashing down in Round 5.

Gennady Golovkin, the unified middleweight champion, came out like a man on a mission in that round and connected on punishing shot after punishing shot. Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) laid on the ropes and continued to eat shots when trainer Dominic Ingle surprisingly threw the towel in to halt the entertaining bout.

Yes, Brook was hurt, but he seemed fine to continue and was squarely in the fight at the time of the stoppage. X-rays revealed after the fight, though, that Brook suffered a broken right orbital bone, per promoter Eddie Hearn.

Brook will undergo surgery on Monday.

With the victory Saturday at London's O2 Arena, GGG picked up a 23rd consecutive knockout and retained his middleweight titles in a bout televised on HBO.

"I respect Kell, he's a good fighter, skilled fighter, but he's not a middleweight," Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) said of Brook, who holds a title at 147 pounds and moved up 13 pounds for the challenge. "Everyone likes big drama show, it's not boxing, it's like street fight. I feel he was finished. Game over.

"I felt him fading. Maybe a couple of rounds more and that's it. He lost power. He touched me and I don't feel it."

Brook's right eye began to badly swell in Round 2 after being badly wobbled in the opening round, but he beat GGG to the punch - particularly with the left uppercut - and clearly won the frame. His speed and movement bothered the champ, and each sharp punch landed by the Brit whipped the boisterous, sold-out crowd into a frenzy.

Even though Brook was the smaller man, they appeared to be the same size, but as the fight wore on it was clear Golovkin's shot were far more damaging.

The 34-year-old Kazakh marched forward at the toll of each bell and tried to make it a street fight, as he said, while Brook attempted to slip and respond with counters. When the 30-year-old was able to move the fight to the middle of the ring, he had his best success.

But Brook said he was seeing "three of four" Golovkins through his right eye from Round 2 on, and instructed his corner as such. GGG's trainer, Abel Sanchez, told Golovkin to press the "broken" fighter, and the end came.

"I'm very frustrated," Brook said. "I had so much more to give. I stood there at times and I was starting to settle into the fight and I believe i would have taken over in middle to last part of the fight.

"I was caution in the first round but he's just a man like me and I had more confidence, but in the second round my eye went. … With a fight of this magnitude it should have carried on."

Brook is mandated to face rising star Errol Spence next at 147 pounds, but The Special One said he will move to junior middleweight and "take over the 154-pound division."

With surgery set for Monday, it's certain Brook is out for the remainder of 2016.

For GGG, it's yet another KO and another middleweight title defense (18) as he approaches Bernard Hopkins' record of 20 (the legendary fighter called the fight ringside for HBO). He wasn't happy with his performance though, but said he wasn't sick, as many speculated during fight week.

Golovkin's face was marked up, but he didn't appear to suffer any injuries or cuts, and if he's ready to go, he's scheduled to return on HBO later this year, as Paste BN Sports reported earlier this week.

The WBA is likely to order a fight between Golovkin and Danny Jacobs, who knocked out Sergio Mora last night, but that will be hard to made due to politics. Golovkin has lobbied hard for a Canelo fight, but that won't happen until next year at the earliest.

It appears Golovkin has his sights set on another Brit for now: Billy Joe Saunders, who holds the one title GGG needs to become undisputed champ.

"I want unification fight," he said. "I need my last belt."

(Photo of Golovkin, left, and Brook by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)