Gennady Golovkin made sure there would not be a repeat of Andy Ruiz Jr.’s massive upset over Anthony Joshua, knocking out Steve Rolls in the fourth round Saturday.
NEW YORK — Gennady Golovkin entered the ring to face unheralded Steve Rolls on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden well aware of what had transpired one week earlier when huge underdog Andy Ruiz Jr. pulled a massive upset by knocking out England’s Anthony Joshua.
Rolls said all week that he was inspired by Ruiz’s performance as he attempted to author his own monumental upset in the same ring, but GGG would have none of it.
Instead, Golovkin, the former unified middleweight world champion, scored a massive fourth-round knockout in their super middleweight bout contracted at 164 pounds before an announced crowd of 12,357.
Golovkin, one of boxing’s biggest stars, was participating in his first nontitle fight since 2010 and returning from a nine-month layoff following his disputed majority decision loss to rival Canelo Alvarez. Their rematch cost Golovkin his unified middleweight title and ended his division-record-tying run of 20 consecutive defenses.
The fight against Rolls was something of new beginning for Golovkin, who was in his first fight with trainer Johnathon Banks after parting ways with longtime trainer Abel Sanchez. It also kicked off a six-fight, three-year, nine-figure deal with sports streaming service DAZN, which signed him after the expiration of his contract with HBO as the network exited from the boxing business at the end of last year.
Golovkin followed Alvarez to DAZN hoping to set up a third fight with him in September, and it is likely he will get it, although Alvarez’s handlers at Golden Boy Promotions told ESPN earlier Saturday that they will sit down with Alvarez next week to go over their plans for his fall fight.
“I feel great. I feel like a new baby. Right now, I feel completely different because I came back to my knockout. I love knockouts, and I love New York. It was a great night all around,” said Golovkin, who was saddled with a hugely controversial draw against Alvarez that most thought GGG won when the pair met for the first time, in 2017.
With Rolls violently dismissed, the question was, “Who’s next?” The answer was as expected as the outcome of the fight.
