By Dan Ambrose: WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) put World Boxing Council 160 pound champion Miguel Cotto on notice that he wants to fight him next following Golovin’s impressive 2nd round knockout victory over the usually strong-chinned Marco Antonio Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) on Saturday night in front of 9,323 fans at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Rubio went down in the 2nd from a left to the head by Golovkin. The fight was then stopped at 1:19 of the round.
Rubio tried his best, but he was too slow for Golovkin and this made it impossible for Rubio to do much in the fight. Golovkin landed some bombs on Rubio’s chin in both the 1st and 2nd rounds.
In the final sequence, Golovkin hit Rubio with a right uppercut that backed him up against the ropes. The punch hurt Rubio, but he stayed on his feet long enough for Golovkin to finish him off with a looping left hook to the head that dropped Rubio. He was too hurt to get back to his feet in time to beat the count by referee Jack Reiss. Rubio showed his warrior spirit by trying to get back up in time, but he was too slow to beat the count.
Golovkin said after the fight that he wants Cotto next, and if not him, then Saul “Canelo” Alvarez or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
Dan Rafael of ESPN said on his Twitter: “Plan for GGG is 4 fights in 2015. Loeffler: ‘People are either talking about his last KO or his next fight.’ #boxing. Loeffler said he’s talked to Froch people. GGG willing to go to UK. Not much interest from Froch camp. Loeffler: Our door is open for Chavez Jr. Says it’s a huge fight. (It is!) ‘We can’t force guys into the ring.’”
It’s probably a waste of time to try and get Chavez Jr in the ring, because Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler already spent a lot of time trying to get that fight previously, and Chavez Jr opted not to take the fight. With Chavez Jr a possible option for Canelo and Floyd Mayweather Jr in the near future, it’s doubtful he’s going to face a dangerous puncher like Golovkin.
The Canelo and/or Mayweather fights would be pay-per-view buts that would pay Chavez Jr a lot of money. Chavez Jr reportedly turned down $7 million for a Golovkin fight. I’m not sure if he’s going to get that kind of money for a fight against Canelo or Mayweather. I tend to think not.
It was good that Golovkin called out Cotto in front of the entire world, because now the casual boxing fans will be aware that Golovkin wants that fight.
Tonight’s win for Golovkin over Rubio now makes Golovkin the WBC interim middleweight champion, but more importantly it makes him the mandatory challenger to Cotto. It doesn’t mean that Cotto will fight him, but if he doesn’t then he’ll get stripped of his WBC title sooner or later if he doesn’t vacate the belt first.
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