The 20th consecutive KO (TKO) win for Golovkin was less eventful than “the big drama show’ catch phrase suggested. The fight took place on May 16 and the venue was the Forum in Inglewood, Cal. The challenger Willie Monroe Jr. (19-2, 6 KOs), a US southpaw with Cuban roots, was known for his speed but not his power and he was not expected to rock and test the Kazakh with concussive leather. Monroe comes from a boxing family – his uncle Willie “The Worm” Monroe once outpointed Marvin Hagler of all middleweights handing him his 2nd pro loss – and when you add the Cuban connection the bar goes up a notch as well. Willie was a Boxino tournament champ and his only loss had been a UD to Darnell Boone, an under-appreciated but notoriously awkward customer who KOed Adonis Stevenson and has scored knock downs over Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward. The undefeated Golovkin looked forward to fighting a slick southpaw and they were of equal size with a reach advantage in favor of the American. Here is a round by round recap of the bout:
Round 1: Monroe Jr. was on fast wheels circling away from the right hand of the champion only to be pummeled by hard lefts. He scored pretty crisp shots of his own but it was obvious his light caliber shots had little effect while he felt the return fire and started running. Good back and forth action with Golovkin landing the hard knocks to win the round.
Round 2: GGG came out focused and collected and did his signature number – walking straight towards the opponent cutting him off and popping up his face like a target in a shooting range. It comes with a price though, whether he takes some incoming or not, the aim is to land his own deliberate forceful bombs through or around the guard of the victim. He landed two lead right hands, one the body that threw Monroe on the ropes, another to the head to daze him and then an ax of a left hand to the jaw to chop him down. The American stood up and he ate more of the same before he could come to his senses so he went down for the second time in the round. He got up again and survived the remaining 50 seconds to avoid the 3 KD rule.
Round 3: Monroe’s legs were gone but Golovkin needed a breather too, so he threw playful shots allowing his opponent to box and letting Monroe’s fans relax for a while. Monroe did just that, he out- boxed the inert GGG to win the 3rd round.
Round 4: The American continued his inspired effort while Gennady was still on stand-by and had switched off the fire power. Monroe stopped moving and fought in the pocket with the Kazakh who took too many shots and even asked for more after Willie landed a good jab-left cross combo landing under the right eye and causing a swelling. Another round for Monroe.
Round 5: Golovkin turned the engine back on and applied the pressure on his opponent hurting him badly in the opening seconds and unloading on him throughout the round. Heavy body shots coupled with uppercuts aimed at the base of the neck but landing on the ducking head rocked and dazed the American who was ready to go.
Round 6: GGG picked up cannonade where he had left off and Monroe simply could not take it anymore. He went down almost voluntarily as an aftershock and waited for the count completely conscious on his knees counting with the ref. He obviously wanted to go out in style and as the ref said 9, Monroe waited a beat and got up after ten. The ref should have ruled it a KO and he clearly made a mistake which ruined Willie’s little trick. Seeing Monroe spring up to his feet, he did not get the message and decided to allowed him to continue in violation of the rules. He still asked the routine question “Do you want to continue”, so Monroe had to spell his refusal out for the referee as he was robbed of the opportunity to protest the stoppage.
GGG has and will fight anybody the management puts in front of him . He has stated his desire to fight Canelo and Cotto. Cotto is numb on the issue while Canelo had the nerve to tweet as follows: “When the day comes for me to move up to 160 I will face the best in the division. Sincerely and with humility I don’t see any real competition for me. Greetings to everyone!”
No real competition indeed, GGG is too dangerous for Alvarez and would eat him for breakfast. That goes for Cotto as well..
