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GGG Rolls Over His Opponent

Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing

He came, he saw, he conquered.

That would best describe how the former unified Middleweight champion of the world, Gennadiy Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) went about his business on Saturday, June 8, 2019, at Madison Square Garden.

For Golovkin, it was his first fight since suffering his first professional defeat at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. That loss resulted in Golovkin losing his Middleweight titles and his 20 fight title defense was snapped as well. In his first fight back it was Steve Rolls (19-1, 10 KOs) who was tasked with stopping the former champion.

Coming into the contest, Rolls was a huge underdog. With that being said, 2019 has been a year of upsets, but Golovkin would make sure that he wouldn’t be next on the list.

Rolls, came out pretty defensive in the opening round as he was trying to find the right range. Although Golovkin was debuting alongside new trainer Johnathan Banks, he still employed his same tactics which included coming forward and bullying his opponent.

In the second round, Rolls took an entirely different approach. He began to let his hands go. His aggressive style resulted in him landing some eye-catching shots on the former Middleweight kingpin. Golovkin’s head was snapped back on several occasions as the crowd roared in appreciation.

Although Rolls placed himself in a good position to possibly cause an upset, Golovkin would not allow the momentum to continue.

In the fourth round, Golovkin came out on fire.

He landed a few over hand shots that really shook up his man. Rolls did his best to stay calm, but Golovkin continued to push the pace and land his monster shots.

Rolls made an effort to clinch and stay away from the power of his opponent, but it was an overhand left that finally closed the show. Once the shot landed, Rolls landed face down on the ground. He couldn’t beat the count as he continued to stumble over.

After the contest, Golovkin was asked about if his focus would be on getting a third fight with Canelo. His answer was very typical.

“I’m the people’s champ,” said Golovkin. “I’ll fight anybody. I’m the people’s champ.”

His words ring true. Many felt that Golovkin should have been given the victory in both of his fights against Canelo. It seems as though a third fight between these two could be coming somewhere down the line.

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