By James Slater: Tonight in Dusseldorf, Germany, unbeaten middleweight star Gennady Golovkin scored a sensational 1st-round KO over the usually durable (previously unstopped) Lajuan Simon of Philadelphia. The 29-year-old from Kazakhstan landed a sizzling left hook to the jaw of Simon and sent him crashing on his back.
Smiling whilst flat out on the canvas, 32-year-old Simon was totally gone and had no chance at all of beating the count. The official time was just 2 minutes and 17-seconds of the opener. Golovkin, who was defending his “regular” World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight belt, is now 22-0(19). Simon is now 23-4(12).
An incredible performance from a fighter many experts say has been avoided by his fellow 160-pounders, Golovkin scored a win that will force fans to sit up and take notice. Whether or not tonight’s ultra-impressive win will encourage the other middleweight rulers to want to get it on with Golovkin remains to be seen, however.
Golvkin wants a piece of “Super” WBA champ Felix Sturm, but based on the recent showings by both men, there looks to be only one winner there. Still, this match-up would be huge in Germany if it could be made.
Is Golovkin ready for the mighty Sergio Martinez also? Is Golovkin in fact the best middleweight in the world right now? It’s tough to say he isn’t after having seen what the former amateur star did to Simon. We may even have seen 2011’s KO of The Year tonight!
You must go all the way back to June of 2008 to find the last time Golovkin was taken the distance. Tonight’s KO was Golovkin’s ninth stoppage win in a row – and the Kazakhstan warrior has not been facing soft touches either. What people will want to see now, though, is Golovkin in there with the premiere names of the division he may well become the main man at if given the chance.
Going into tonight’s fight, all experts were anticipating a tough, hard fight. Instead we got a blow-out.