Challenger Willie Monroe (19-2, 6 KOs) tried hard tonight, but he was no match for IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) in getting stopped in the 6th round of a scheduled 12 round bout at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Monroe was down three times in the fight, and would have likely been down even more if he hadn’t quit on his feet in the 6th round following a hard knockdown. Referee Jack Reiss officially stopped the fight at 0:45 of the 6th.
Monroe hit the canvas twice in the 2nd round. The first knockdown came from a left hook to the head that put Monroe down. Less than a minute later, Monroe was knocked down by a volley of punches from Golovkin. At this point in the fight it looked like Monroe wouldn’t make it past the 3rd round.
Golovkin said after the fight that he had carried Monroe in rounds three through five to get him to the 6th. Golovkin said he didn’t want to finish Monroe too quickly because he had friends coming to the fight, and he didn’t want to stop him in just 5 minutes.
After the fight, Golovkin wasted no time in telling HBO commentator Max Kellerman that he wants to fight Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. He doesn’t want to wait into the future before facing them. The Los Angeles crowd cheered Golovkin the entire time, and was chanting his name as he walked out of the ring. That’s something we didn’t see in the “Fight of the Century” between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Unlike those two fighters, Golovkin actually delivered a great performance tonight.
“First, I showed him who’s the real champ,” Golovkin said. “Second, I gave him a chance. I didn’t lose control. Yes, of course,” Golovkin said in saying that he allowed Monroe to survive after he’d knocked him down twice in the 2nd round. “This is not just five minutes. All my friends come to the show. I stay right here. I gave real present. I want unification fight. Bring it. I stay here. I want my big fight. I say not for the future. I want big fight now. I am waiting for Miguel [Cotto] and Canelo. I respect Andre Ward, a great athlete. First of all, I say Canelo and Cotto. After that, Andre Ward.”
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In a very impressive performance, WBC World flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) destroyed an over-matched Edgar Sosa (51-9, 30 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout. Gonzalez was teeing off on Sosa in the 2nd round in putting him on the canvas three times. Sosa was lucky to have gotten up from the first knockdown, because it was a blistering right hand to the head that Gonzalez tagged him with. To Sosa’s credit, he rose from the canvas and continued fighting, but there was no way he was going to get out of the round with the way that the knockout artist Gonzalez was sitting down on his punches. Sosa tried to run, but Gonzalez cut off the ring and knocked him down two more times with devastating head shots. After the third knockdown, referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the fight at 2:37 of the round.
Other boxing action on the card:
Ruslan Madiyev KO 2 Julio Sanchez
Pedro Duran TKO 6 Daniel Perales
Seniesa Estrada MD 6 Carly Batey