Gennady Golovkin def. David Lemieux, KO R8 1:32

The pressure was on for Gennady Golovkin tonight. Heralded as the next big thing in boxing, GGG had a chance to show his stuff in front of a huge Madison Square Garden crowd and a PPV buying audience, and he was doing it against the hardest hitting opponent he is yet to face.

The end result was what it has always been for Golovkin - a KO win and a dominant performance.

Interestingly, Golovkin approached the fight slightly differently from what we've most often seen from him. He came out clearly respecting the power of Lemieux, forcing the more aggressively-minded Lemieux consistently on to his back foot through superb use of his jab. The result was that, for much of the fight, we saw Gennady Golovkin the boxer as opposed to Gennady Golovkin the power puncher. But as the fight progressed, he stepped up his power game, first dropping Lemieux in round 5 with a body shot, and then upping his assault on the body in round 8 and forcing the referee stoppage.

Post-fight, Golovkin understandably talked about a fight with the Canelo vs. Cotto winner. When asked if he was the #1 pound for pound fighter in the world, he stated that the #1 spot was vacant. Maybe he would be there, but not today.

Incredible performance once again from the truly incredible Golovkin. For the sake of boxing, let's hope this drew the interest it deserved.