A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at New York
Gennady Golovkin TKO8 Curtis Stevens
Retains a middleweight title
Records: Golovkin (28-0, 25 KOs); Stevens (25-4, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Another Golovkin fight, another dominant performance for GGG, one of the most exciting and fast-rising fighters in the world. Making his ninth title defense -- and fourth in a very bust 2013 -- Golovkin systematically beat down Stevens, who showed a big heart and landed a few solid powerful punches, but was outclassed in a fight he had talked himself into by goading Golovkin into the match with his Twitter attacks and trash talk.
Although Golovkin, 31, a native of Kazakhstan who lives in Germany and trains in the United States, didn't say so beforehand, he admitted afterward that Stevens' talk had upset him and made him want to get the knockout even more than usual. Of course, Golovkin eventually delivered the stoppage, his 15th in a row.
Stevens, 28, of Brooklyn was fighting in his home city, Golovkin had most of the crowd of 4,618 -- just two shy of a sellout at the Theater at Madison Square Garden -- on his side in what was a crackling atmosphere. The anticipation of what would happen when one of these two punchers landed his first big shot was palpable. It finally came in the second round, when Golovkin landed a pair of brutal left hooks to Stevens' chin. Stevens went down on his back, legs flying up in the air and had a look on his face as if he was thinking, What the hell just hit me? He was badly hurt but survived the round, but from there on Golovkin had the fight under control. Stevens tried to fight back and got in a few hard blows, but Golovkin never seemed bothered by anything as he stalked Stevens around the ring and fired his full arsenal of hard jabs, right hands, the money left hook and digging body shots.
At various times in the fight, Golovkin had Stevens on the verge of being stopped. In the sixth round, he dished out several right hands that had Stevens covering up. He was taking such a beating that his mother briefly walked out of the arena. In the eighth round, Golovkin battered Stevens all over the ring and a stoppage appeared inevitable. Referee Harvey Dock was looking closely as Golovkin was hammering Stevens in the final seconds of the round. Dock let the round end, then went to the corner, had a brief exchange with Andre Rozier, Stevens' uncle and trainer, and stopped the fight.
This was a perfect referee stoppage, and Golovkin, already with boxing's highest knockout percentage (89 percent) among active titleholders, added another to his résumé.
For a guy who lost virtually every second of every round, got dropped hard and ultimately stopped, Stevens did not fight badly. In fact, he turned in the kind of exciting effort that probably will earn him another shot down the road. But the fact is he was facing Golovkin, who is on another level. He is one of the best fighters in the world and smack in his prime right now. He landed nearly as many punches (293) as Stevens threw (303), according to CompuBox. That is dominance.
Golovkin aims to be just as busy in 2014 as he was this year, and he will be back for his next defense against an opponent to be determined on Feb. 1 in Monte Carlo. After that, he'd like a major fight, although getting a top opponent to fight him is not going to be easy. But regardless which boxer GGG fights next, he has become easily one of the most must-see TV fighters in boxing.
Mike Perez W10 Magomed Abdusalamov
Heavyweight
Scores: 97-92 (twice), 95-94
Records: Perez (20-0, 12 KOs); Abdusalamov (18-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The fight was a terrific heavyweight brawl, but it came with a serious price. Although the victory served as something of a coming-out party for Perez, the 28-year-old Cuban defector based in Ireland who won the biggest fight of his career so far, Abdusalamov, 32, of Russia, wound up in a medically induced coma the day after the fight because of a small brain bleed suffered in the hellacious battle.
Both fighters were getting the biggest exposure of their careers by being handed a prime slot on HBO and knew how important it was to make an impression, and they both let it all hang out. They came out slugging and never really let up through the 10 rounds. Both guys got rocked at various times, and both also dished out their own punishment. But it was Perez who did the bulk of the damage, in part because Abdusalamov broke his left hand -- his power hand since he, like Perez, is a southpaw -- in the first or second round and no longer could use it effectively afterward.
Although Abdusalamov swelled Perez's right eye in the first half of the fight, Perez inflicted far more damage. He broke Adusalamov's nose, swelled his face, cut him over the left eye and basically brutalized him in the late going. Referee Benjy Esteves docked a point from Perez for a low blow in the ninth round. In the final round, Perez, who had not fought at all in 2012 and just once this year (in May), nearly dropped an exhausted Abdusalamov with a clean right hand.
When the fight was over, Abdusalamov was going to get his hand, nose and cuts checked out at the hospital. But he also complained of not feeling well, so when he got the hospital and was examined, doctors discovered the brain bleed and operated Sunday. They removed the blood clot and removed a small portion of his skull to relieve the pressure on the brain. They also put him into the coma to allow time for the brain swelling to go down. He was in stable condition as of Sunday. Hopefully, Abdusalamov, who showed so much heart, will be OK, even if it seems to mean his boxing career is over.
Perez gets a huge win, and, even though, at 6 feet, he is undersized for the heavyweight division, he has fast hands, a lot of determination and crisp punches. He won't compete with champion Wladimir Klitschko, but, against some of the top contenders who are not so huge, he might make some noise.
Saturday at Hermosillo, Mexico
Giovani Segura KO12 Hernan "Tyson" Marquez
Flyweight title eliminator
Records: Segura (31-3-1, 27 KOs); Marquez (36-4, 26 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: What a fantastic fight! It is a clear fight of the year candidate, which was completely expected when this match to determine the mandatory challenger for unified flyweight titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada was made. Marquez, 25, a former flyweight titleholder, and Segura, 31, the former junior flyweight world champion, epitomize the term Mexican warrior, and that is just how they fought.
Leading up to the bout, Marquez had proclaimed, "This fight will be a war. We both like to brawl and take risks because we know we have the power to knock out our opponents. I can't wait to get into the ring and give the fans a memorable night of boxing."
One of Segura's final comments about the fight was that sooner or later, the war will begin and my power will be the difference."
Both were on the money as they spent the entirety of the fight trading brutal, clean shots at a pace akin to a video game until Segura's one-punch power proved to be the difference. Jabs? Who needs 'em? This was a pure power-punch festival. It's only a shame that CompuBox was not tracking the fight because the stats probably would be off the chart. They stood and traded nonstop from the opening bell, which came as no surprise because of their styles and past action-packed fights they have engaged in. But this was even better than those other memorable fights.
Referee Celestino Ruiz warned Segura for a low blow in the second round, but -- for such a brutal, physical fight -- it was a clean one. In the fourth round, Marquez, under extreme pressure, took a big right hand from Segura to the side of the head and went down to a knee with a few seconds left in the round. But in the fifth round, Marquez stormed back. He was blasting Segura and rocking him. He staggered Segura again late in the seventh round with a right-left combination. All the while, the crowd was in a frenzy because of the ridiculous, sustained action. Segura and Marquez were inflicting heavy damage on each other, especially in the 11th round of what was an extremely close fight. Late in the 11th round, Segura pinned Marquez against the ropes and fired a right and a left, driving him to a knee for the second knockdown with a little less than a minute remaining in the round. But Marquez rallied later in the round and wobbled Segura with a left hand. This was just an insane barn burner from start to finish.
The 12th round was more of the same until Segura plastered Marquez with a clean left hook to the jaw and dropped him to a knee before he rolled over onto his back. Ruiz reached six in his count, but then waved off the fight at 1 minute, 57 seconds as Segura celebrated the victory on the shoulders of one of his handlers. An incredible fight.
Although it was not shown on the UniMas broadcast in the United States, Marquez eventually was taken from the ring on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital for observation and because he was dehydrated, although his camp said he is just fine.
Saturday at Hull, England
Luke Campbell TKO5 Lee Connelly
Lightweight
Records: Campbell (3-0, 3 KOs); Connelly (2-6, 0 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Campbell, 26, won the 2012 Olympic bantamweight gold medal for England in front of the hometown fans in London. As a lightweight, he turned pro in his hometown of Hull, England, with much fanfare in July and blitzed his opponent in 88 seconds. He also scored a first-round knockout on Oct. 5 in his second pro fight, needing just 119 seconds. Now, back for his third pro go and fighting again in his hometown, Campbell was forced to go far deeper into the scheduled six-round bout as Connelly hung in there.
Campbell, a southpaw, was patient. He boxed nicely, jabbed and looked as if he was working on things while Connelly, 26, of England, did himself proud to extend Campbell deep into the fight. But the class difference was obvious. Campbell's sharp punches eventually took their toll as he punished Connelly, whose nose was bleeding, throughout the fourth round. Campbell continued to pound game Connelly in the fifth round, even though he couldn't get him off his feet. But he kept landing shots and breaking him down until referee Michael Alexander stepped in to stop the fight at 2 minutes as Connelly was taking tremendous punishment.
Although Connelly lost his fifth fight in a row, it was the first time he had been stopped in any of his defeats. This was just what Campbell needed -- rounds against a game opponent. Campbell is due back in the ring Nov. 23 on the undercard of super middleweight titlist Carl Froch's defense against George Groves.
Saturday at Queretaro, Mexico
Andres Gutierrez W12 Ernie Sanchez
Junior featherweight
Unanimous decision (scores unavailable) Records: Gutierrez (28-0-1, 22 KOs); Sanchez (14-4, 5 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Up-and-comer Gutierrez, 20, who was fighting in his hometown, dominated Sanchez throughout the bout. Gutierrez, a pro since 2009 and part of Canelo Alvarez's stable, looks like a good prospect. He had a tight defense and also landed shots with both hands against Sanchez, 21, who is from General Santos City in the Philippines, the same hometown as Manny Pacquiao. Gutierrez took control right away and never was in any trouble, and he had Sanchez backing up for most of the fight.
Friday at Dachau, Germany
Juan Carlos Gomez TKO2 Adnan Buharalija
Cruiserweight
Records: Gomez (52-3, 39 KOs); Buharalija (29-19-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: From 1998 to 2001, Gomez was a dominant cruiserweight titleholder. He made 10 title defenses before vacating the title to do what most other top cruiserweights do, which is to move up to give it a go in the more lucrative heavyweight division. Gomez, 40, a former Cuban amateur star who defected to Germany, did not have much success as a heavyweight, however. In that division, he suffered all three of his defeats, including a one-sided ninth-round knockout loss to Vitali Klitschko in a 2009 world title bout.
Now, claiming that he has found the hunger for boxing again after going through the motions just for the money for the past few years, Gomez -- "The Black Panther" -- returned to cruiserweight, where he hopes to become a factor once again and eventually challenge titleholder Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland. But first came this fight with Buharalija, 33, of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Gomez looked to be in fine condition back in the 200-pound weight class and let his hands fly with combinations against overwhelmed Buharalija. With about 30 seconds left in the first round, Gomez was teeing off from both hands and connecting clean, including with a left hand that dropped Buharalija. He beat the count, then barely survived Gomez's onslaught over the last few seconds of the round. Gomez was again in command in the second round, when he landed a brutal left hand that sunk Buharalija to his knees with about 45 seconds left. He beat the count, but, when Gomez was blistering him with punches again moments later, the referee jumped in to stop it at 2 minutes, 47 seconds.
If the Gomez in this kind of shape, with this kind of positive energy, gets a shot at a title, don't be surprised if he wins another cruiserweight belt.