VERONA, NY — Gennady Golovkin staked his claim last night (September 1) as a viable opponent for the elite at 160-168 pounds with a thorough dismantling of Grzegorz Proksa at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino.
After an intial minute of awkward positioning and tie-ups due to Proksa’s southpaw stance, Golovkin went to work by stunning Proska with a left hook and a left jab. The shots pushed Proska to the ropes and Golovkin promptly dropped with a flurry of hooks inside. Suffering the first knockdown of his career, Proksa wore an embarrassed look and shook his head to signify he wasn’t seriously hurt.
That would soon change.
Proska found some success early in the second with straight left counters. Golovkin countered with hard left jabs and used short hooks inside to again stun Proksa. A succession of cuffing right hooks had Proska wincing in a clinch to close the stanza.
Golovkin momentum continued in the third courtesy of his straight rights. Proska relied on straight lefts but failed to back up or stifle Golovkin, who closed strong on a lead right hook and counter left hook inside.
Although Proksa scored well inside with counter left hands, Golovkin’s power advantage was too much to overcome. Proksa was forced to the ropes by right hooks and damaged further with a right to body, left hooks upstairs and a right hook for a second knockdown. A haggard Proksa bravely finished the round on unsteady legs from every ensuing power shot.
The inevitable finish came in the fifth when Proksa was wobbled by an overhand right. Golovkin followed up with a left hook on the ear that sprawled Proska flat on his face for the final knockdown. Proksa beat the count but was deemed unfit to continue by referee Charlie Fitch.
The punishment had been sustained and relentless; of his 187 power shots, Golovkin landed 40%. Having now notched his fourth defense of the WBA middleweight title, Golovkin affirmed his willingness to face the best fighters available at 160 and 168 pounds.
“Easy fight for me today,” said Golovkin. “After first round, I see and feel I’m better. This is my dream to fight in America and HBO… It doesn’t matter who’s next. I’ll fight anyone, of course.”
Golovin improves to 24-0, with 21 KOs. Grzegorz Proksa falls to 28-2, with 21 KOs.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZHjl8U5fQQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player]On the undercard, Serhiy Dzinziruk and Jonathan Gonzalez fought to a majority draw. Gonzlez, who missed the contracted junior middleweight limit by nine pounds, landed the harder punches throughout by fought in spurts, allowing Dzinziruk to keep in the fight behind his sporadic counter-punching. Final scores read 117-111 Gonzalez, 115-113 Dzinziruk, and 114-114.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 