Gennady Golvokin returns to knockout victory

Gennady Golvokin returned to the path of knockout. On Saturday night, he finished the Armenian Vanes Martirosyan in 4:53 seconds to reach the milestone of 20 middleweight championship defenses, a record that the American Bernard Hopkins had achieved 10 years ago. At the same time, he improved his record to 37-0-1, with 33 knockouts.

After a complicated last month, in which the rematch with Mexican Saúl 'Canelo' Álvarez fell through, forcing the search for a replacement opponent, Golovkin climbed into the ring of the StubHub Center in Carson, California, to do his job. With power and aggressiveness, he made Martirosyan retreat, becoming the first person to knock out the Armenian.

"I want anyone. If 'Canelo' is ready, I am ready too. Come for me and take my titles," Golovkin said at the end of the fight. He recognized Martirosyan as an aggressive opponent who landed a couple of "good punches" on him.

At the starting bell, Martirosyan - who had been inactive for two years because several fights fell through just days before taking place - came out aggressively, targeting Golovkin's head and taking advantage of the champion's defensive errors. Determined to impose respect and not leave the affront unpunished, 'Triple G' unleashed his hands and made Vanes stagger on several occasions, but he managed to hold on until the end of the round.

In the second round, the challenger, still more cautious, came out to box and use some footwork, but what Golovkin did in the first round inspired him to maintain the pace and, at the first opportunity, he put the Armenian on the canvas with a combination of seven hooks to the face that had no response.

Golovkin was obliged to shine in this fight because, in addition to his undefeated record and his championships, there is the pending rematch with 'Canelo' Álvarez on the line. He stated that with this knockout, he sent a clear message to the Mexican, who is currently suspended due to a failed doping test.

In the future plans, once the 6-month suspension is over, the Mexican will fight twice before the end of 2018. The promoters of 'GGG' and 'Canelo' are scheduled to meet in the coming weeks to begin negotiations for the second part of the fight they had last September.

Cecilia Braekhus wins tough fight

The unified champion Cecilia Braekhus had a tough return to the United States after 10 years of absence in a fight where she got up from the canvas to win by unanimous decision, keeping her belts and her undefeated record intact.

With a lot at stake, the Norwegian fighter returned to present herself for the first time on American soil as the owner of the titles of the four main international boxing organizations. However, she struggled against the right-handed punches of a former world champion who put up a tough fight.

Cecilia, with her style characterized by mobility and effectiveness, started the fight by boxing and using the jab as her main tool, but a momentary lapse caused her to be knocked down, making the judges' cards close, at least for a couple of rounds.

After making the necessary adjustments to her strategy, Braekhus managed to recover from that knockdown and although she was in danger a couple more times, she found a way to dominate a strong American native who was aiming to regain her lost quality in 2016.

At the end of the 10 rounds, the only female boxer in history to simultaneously hold the belts of the WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO received scores of 97-92, 96-93, and 96-93 to retain her titles for the 22nd time and improve her record to 33-0, with 9 knockouts.

This was Reis's seventh professional defeat out of 21 fights.