Gennady Golovkin KOs Dominic Wade in 2nd round to retain middleweight titles
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Dominic Wade came into Saturday night's middleweight title fight confidently assuring anyone who asked that he was going to "shock the world" against heavy favorite Gennady Golovkin, and that "Triple G" was, well, really nothing special.
In less than six minutes, Golovkin made Wade eat those words and plenty of his leather too, as the undefeated champion knocked the challenger down three times en route to second-round knockout in front of a roaring sellout crowd of 16,353 at the Forum. Each of the knockdowns came on overhand rights.
Golovkin's punches were so hard that on one of the knockdowns, Golovkin hit Wade in the arm or shoulder and knocked him down.
It was another superb performance by Golovkin, 34, who wasted little time letting Wade know who was in charge on this night. With the raucous crowd chanting "Tri-ple G, Tri-ple G," Golovkin extended his knockout streak to 22 while putting Wade on the canvas once in the first and twice in the second round to hand the overmatched Maryland boxer his first career loss.
The title defense was Golovkin's 16th in a row, leaving him four behind Bernard Hopkins' middleweight record of 20 in a row.
Referee Jack Reiss counted Wade out at 2:37 of the second round, raising the Golovkin's record to 35-0 with 32 KOs. Wade fell to 18-1 (12 KOs). Reiss later said he was amazed at how hard Golovkin's punches were.
"It's not special, I feel after first round it's very close fight," Golovkin, who made $2 million, said with a wide grin. "It's my play, it's my game. Of course everybody comes to just watch my fight."
It was obvious from the opening bell that Golovkin was going to have little trouble with Wade, the Largo, Md., fighter with an extensive amateur background, but who clearly had never fought anyone approaching the caliber of Golovkin, USA TODAY Sports/Boxing Junkie's No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter.
"His power is real," Wade, 26, said. "More than I expected. I tried to get comfortable, but once he hits you it's hard to be comfortable. There are one or two things I could've done differently, but he's a great champion and does everything well."
Triple G's trainer, Abel Sanchez went even further, saying "nobody in any era in any division has ever dominated a division like Golovkin has dominated his."
Golovkin punished Wade's body time and time again with powerful right and left hands. He even dropped his hands at one point and ate a few punches from Wade but shook them off but shook them off like they were nothing. Golovkin landed 54 of 133 punches (42%), to Wade's 22 of 75.
"I'm here now and I'm here to stay. I'm not going anywhere," Golovkin said. "Of course, I need big name or big fight. Today (was) not easy work, just a present for my fans."
Asked about a potential and much-discussed mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez that is supposed to happen later this year, Golovkin said, "Give me my belt and let's fight."
Alvarez, the WBC champ, opens the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 7 against Amir Khan in a middleweight title fight. Canelo is the lineal champ, but has never fought a middleweight bout at the 160-pound limit, opting for a catch weight of 155 pounds each time.
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)