NEW YORK (AP) – Gennady Golovkin gave a slight bow and apologized to David Lemieux after hitting him while he was on the canvas in the fifth round of their middleweight title fight.
Golovkin could afford to be magnanimous. Everything else he did was nearly perfect Saturday night when he staked his claim as boxing’s best before a sold-out crowd on the big stage of Madison Square Garden.
In a coming out party of sorts, Golovkin battered Lemieux at will before referee Steve Griffith mercifully stopped the fight in the eighth round with the Canadian taking a beating on the ropes. It was yet another impressive performance from a fighter many are starting to notice as he knocks out almost everyone who steps in the ring with him.
More important, it sets up a possible bout that has boxing fans salivating: Triple G against the winner of the Nov. 21 middleweight title clash between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto.
“This fight puts him at the next level,” promoter Tom Loeffler said. “He’s at the top of the sport. There’s probably only one other fighter now who can fill Madison Square Garden and that is Cotto.”