Sunday, May 6, 2018

GGG Kayos Martirosyan in Carson

Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) knocked out Vanes Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs) in the second round of last nights World Middleweight Title fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Martirosyan was the replacement opponent for Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who withdrew from the May 5th rematch after testing positive for a banned substance. Last night's bout aired on regular HBO.

Vanes Martirosyan, an Armenian-American, represented the United States as a welterweight at the 2004 Olympic Games. The fighter resides in Glendale, California, a city known for its large Armenian-American population. This factor played into the promoter's decision to schedule Martirosyan as GGG's opponent in Carson last night. Despite not selling out the venue, Glendale's Armenian-American population certainly made their presence known as Martirosyan made his way to the ring.

Martirosyan, one of the few remaining Don King fighters, stepped into the ring last night having not fought in a professional bout in 23 months. This fact caused GGG and his camp to feel the wrath of boxing writers and fans across multiple platforms on the worldwide web.

GGG, the longest reigning active world champion, came out in the first round looking for an early end to the night. He landed jabs almost at will, snapping back his opponent's head on multiple occasions. Later in the round, Martirosyan hit GGG with a nice right hand to the jaw, that he followed up with a jab to the head. These shots seemed to surprise the unified middleweight champion, who controlled the pace of the opening frame up to this point.

At the outset of the second round, GGG appeared to have had enough of Martirosyan. He answered the bell by attacking the Californian. GGG hurt Martirosyan with a hard right upper cut. Soon after, GGG crushed Martirosyan with a brutal multi-punch combo that started with an overhand right, and was followed by two jabs, two right hands, a left hook, a right hand, a left hook, and a final right hook as Martirosyan's knee hit the canvas. Referee Jack Reiss counted Martirosyan out, and waived off the fight at 1:53 of the second round.

GGG said in the post-fight interview that he is willing to fight anyone in the middleweight division, including Canelo AlvarezGGG told HBO's Max Kellerman, "I want everyone. I have lots of belts. I challenge anyone to come and take my belts. I don't care who it is. Let's clean the division out. Happy Cinco de Mayo."




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