Khazakstan’s Gennady Golovkin stopped Marco Antonio Rubio in the second round on Saturday night, defending his WBA middleweight title with his 18th consecutive stoppage victory.
Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) punctuated his brief West Coast debut with a crushing left hand to the forehead. Rubio tumbled to the canvas and could not get his wits together in time, the fight ending 1 minute, 19 seconds into the second round.
“I liked the fight,” Golovkin said. “Rubio, he does not step back. He is a good fighter. I respect him. It was a very hard punch.”
The flourish of Golovkin’s final blows rocked the StubHub Center, which was packed to capacity with fans of the California-trained middleweight who has become one of the sport’s most charismatic stars. The crowd of 9,323 — easily the largest turnout for a boxing event at the outdoor stadium — chanted “Triple G” and leaped to their feet for the stoppage.
“Those cheers were not only for the fighter, but for the person he has shown to be,” said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer.
Golovkin battered Rubio (59-7-1) throughout his 12th title defense, hurting Rubio earlier in the second round with a right hand and a left uppercut.
“I felt I hurt him with the left hand, and the uppercut was when he was very badly hurt,” Golovkin said. “I knew I had him... I was happy he came forward. He fought Mexican style and he tried to hurt me, but my power was too much for him tonight.”
Golovkin won Rubio’s WBC interim belt, which means the winner of WBC champion Miguel Cotto’s upcoming bout with Canelo Alvarez must either fight Golovkin or vacate the title. Golovkin has trouble attracting the world’s biggest 160 pound (72.5kg) names, so he hopes to clean out the division by winning every belt.
“He’ll fight anyone, whoever we can get in the ring,” promoter Tom Loeffler said.
Rubio briefly complained that the knockout punch was illegal, although television replays clearly contradicted him.
“Gennady is a great champion,” Rubio said. “He hit me hard, but it’s not the hardest I’ve been hit. I came to fight, to put on a good show. I got up, but the referee decided to stop it.”
Rubio missed the weight for the fight on Friday by nearly 1kg, costing him the chance to fight for both titles. He entered the ring weighing 82kg, but Golovkin floored him with the same relentless style that has been too much for every middleweight opponent to date.
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