Detonator Gennady Golovkin KOs Matthew Macklin With Body Shot

Gennady Golovkin scared off another batch of potential foes when he threw a left hook from hell to the body of Matthew Macklin in round three of the main event from Foxwoods, in CT, and on HBO, on Saturday night. The end came, with Macklin rolled over onto his belly, face down, in agony, at 1:22 of the the third.

The severity of the shot, the promise of power, has fight fans positively salivating. Golovkin jumped into Must See territory on this night, and I think it might be safe to say that he is considerably tougher than he showed in his last scrap, against Gabriel Rosado, because on that night he was sick. People are taking to Twitter comparing Golovkin’s power to Mike Tyson, seeing him taking out Floyd Mayweather, AND Andre Ward…on the same night! OK, maybe not the same a fight featuring this principal, even if the last time they watched boxing was when Tyson was campaigning. We may well have seen the birth of a boxing superstar on this night, in Connecticut.

After, to Max Kellerman, Golovkin said that this was a regular fight, not a huge test. He watched the body shot, and said he got in good position for the body shot. “That’s my lucky punch,” he said. Is Sergio Martinez next? “This is a present for my public…I am ready for this fight.”

Macklin after said he was “the best kid I ever fought.” He said Golovkin picked his punches well, and his power is “clubbing, solid,” even his jab.

The IBO and WBA middleweight champion Golovkin (age 31; 26-0 with 23 KOs entering; had KOd 13 straight foes; from Kazahkstan) was 159 pounds, Macklin (29-4 entering; age 31; born in England, grew up in Ireland, lives in Spain) was 159 on Friday, and both were 170 on fight night.

The event was put together by K2 and Lou Dibella.

In the first, GGG looked to stalk, cut off the ring, land heavy. A right lead-left hook late sent MM flying back into the ropes. “Move to your right,” said trainer Buddy McGirt after the round to Macklin.

In the second, we saw a cut over Mack’s left eye. He ate heavy shots, a few of them, bad ass detonators.

In the third, a left hook to the body put Macklin down, on his face, to be counted out. He was trapped on the ropes, and went to the mat like he was hit by a taser.

Thomas Oosthuizen met Brandon Gonzalez in a super middleweight fight in HBO’s second fight of the night. After ten rounds, we went to the cards, a surprise to folks who thought Tommy O would step up in this fight and really shine. The scores were 98-92 (Pete Hary) for Gonzo, 96-94 (Glenn Feldman) for Tommy O, and 95-95 (Clark Sammartino), a draw.

Tommy O, from South Africa, holds the IBO 168 crown but that wasn’t on the line on this night. The 6-4 lefty looked to keep the Cali boxer at a safe distance, and not let him swarm his way in, but not as much as he should have. O towered over the 5-10 1/2 Gonzo, and snapped a long, hard jab to nice effect early. But Gonzo’s volume, and desire was on display, and maybe swayed judges early on. The 6-4 O was busier in the sixth, jabbed, worked in a couple uppercuts. “He’s way more tired than you,” said Gonzo’s trainer Virgil Hunter, trainer of Andre Ward, after the sixth. He’s ready to be whupped,” Hunter said after the seventh, “Don’t let it get away, don’t let it get away, don’t let it get away.”

In the eighth, Tommy O didn’t ramp it up like maybe he needed to, like he might be down a few rounds. He was busier in the ninth. Tommy O might have buzzed Gonzo in the 12th but he collected himself. We went to the cards. HBO’s Steve Weisfeld saw it 96-94, for Gonzalez.

Gonzo won 164-160 in punches landed.

Willie Nelson (20-1-1 entering) took on Luciano Cuello (32-2 entering) in HBO’s TV opener.

In this junior middleweight scrap, the Argentine Cuello surprised to the upside those who noted he’d lost to JC Chavez Jr (in 2009, UD10) and was stopped by Canelo Alvarez (TKO6) in 2010. He buzzed Nelson, the taller man who didn’t use his height to best effect, several times.

Nelson had a cut eye in the third, and used his jab and reach to good effect to midway. Later, he chose to fight in close too much, perhaps, and got nailed a few times for his trouble.

After ten rounds, the fight went to the cards. They scored it 97-93, 97-93, 96-94, for the Ohian, whose trainer Jack Leow provided some entertainment with his fiery and profane exhortations in between rounds. There was some booing in the stands at the decision.

Nelson went 231-649 to 198-553 for the loser, so as is fairly typical, the volume winner won.