With or without Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, Gennady Golovkin put on a show on Cinco de Mayo.

The 36-year-old unified middleweight champion finished late-replacement challenger Vanes Martirosyan at 1:53 of round two, securing his 20th middleweight title retention to match Bernard Hopkins’ record streak of consecutive defenses.

“Most people thought that record would never be touched,” said Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez. “Now for Gennady to tie it, you saw his hunger and motivation.”



Martirosyan let his hands loose from the opening bell, using a length advantage to connect with jabs that quickly reddened Golovkin’s face.

The champion, though, was willing to stand and trade, aware that his power would be there when he needed it.

The bell sounded for round two and GGG unleashed a torrent of punches, pounding Martirosyan along the ropes with alternating lefts and rights that snapped back the challenger’s head before he crashed to the canvas and referee Jack Reiss counted to 10.

“Second round is all business,” Golovkin said in front of 7,837 fans who watched the Kazakh fighter win at the StubHub Center for the first time since 2014.

The crowd on Saturday established a record gate for boxing at the arena.



Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) was originally scheduled to rematch Canelo Álvarez at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in a 5 May blockbuster.

Their first bout, a heavily debated draw last September, marked the first time in Golvkin’s career that he left the ring without a win. However, it did big business, selling 1.3m pay-per-views and pulling a live gate of $27m, the third largest in boxing history, positioning GGG as one of the sport’s stars.

Following two failed drug tests for clenbuterol, a banned substance, Canelo was pulled from the rematch. The Mexican fighter fingered tainted meat and the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which had jurisdiction over the contest, suspended Álvarez until 17 August, effectively clearing the way for a September rematch.

“Canelo has a lot to prove,” Martirosyan said. “I see why he’s eating that kind of meat. I see why he’s trying to get that extra edge. GGG is the real deal. He’s 36 years old and he still fights like that?”

Martirosyan, a 32-year-old Aremenian-American boxer out of Glendale, California, had not fought for two years after losing a 154lb world title fight to Erislandy Lara. He labeled Golovkin the hardest puncher he faced in his career.

“Vanes was telling me in camp he wanted to see how hard GGG hits,” said Martirosyan’s trainer Edmond Tarverdyan. “He hits hard. The guy throws a jab like most people throw their right hand.”

Martirosyan had one piece of advice for Álvarez: Run. He was joking, but not really.

“There’s a way to fight and there’s a way to survive,” said Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler. “We felt the last two opponents who fought GGG fought to go 12 rounds.”



Martirosyan (36-4-1) stepped into the ring with Golovkin on less than three week’s notice, agreeing to the fight after Irish middleweight Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan passed on the opportunity in favor of keeping a 4 May contest with Puerto Rico’s Berlin Abreu in Los Angeles, which he won without any trouble.



In the co-headliner on Saturay, Norway’s Cecilia Braekhus withstood a knockdown in the seventh round – the first of her career – along with several hard rights to the jaw from challenger Kali Reis, ultimately retaining her world welterweight championship by unanimous decision.

“This was such a hard fight,” said Braekhus (37-0-1). “She’s such a tough and amazing fighter.”

The first female bout ever broadcast on HBO ended with judges at ringside submitting scores of 97-92, 96-93 and 96-93 for the Norwegian who welcomed a rematch with Reis (13-7-1), of Providence, Rhode Island, or other opportunities should they emerge.

UFC featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino watched the title fight in person, and has discussed a fight with Breakhus.

After watching Cyborg defeat Holly Holm last year, Braekhus said she welcomed the test.

“If we can get it done I think that would be a spectacular thing to do,” Braekhus said. “She’s a better striker than Conor McGregor. I think that would be a much more competitive fight than Mayweather-McGregor.”

Braekhus’s promoter, the aforementioned Loeffler, sees the possibility of a major female boxing attraction, but has not made an outreach.

Mayweather and McGregor came out of nowhere last year and did record-setting business. Loeffler said he hoped that because the UFC was willing to put McGregor into a boxing scenario, that the door was open for a contest between Cyborg and Braekhus. But at this point it was just an idea, and it would still be a few fights away if it ever happened.

More pressing: the rematch between Golovkin and Álvarez.

“I’ve been in regular contact with Golden Boy,” Loeffler said. “If there’s a way to make the fight happen, this is a fight where both guys have a huge incentive to make it happen.



“It will be a much bigger fight than the first fight.”



There are conditions, said Loeffler and Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez. Canelo must accept independent third-party drug testing to get GGG in a rematch.

Loeffler revealed that Golden Boy representatives expressed a willingness from Álvarez to undergo monitoring for performance-enhancing drugs.

“Frankly,” Loeffler said, “testing these days is 100% necessary.”



Speaking about Canelo in the aftermath of their first contest, Golovkin danced around with his words more than he ever had in the ring.

Álvarez actions – blowing up the rematch, forcing venue changes and networks to scramble, and putting other fighters in a tough spot – were disrespectful, said the middleweight champion, but he wasn’t sure if that should or shouldn’t mean Canelo gets next.

That’s why following another Saturday night of “very serious business,” GGG clearly stated that Canelo is his “priority”.

“It’s very important for me and for boxing people,” Golovkin said of a bout that could solidify his status as one of the best middleweights of all time. “I’m ready. Let’s do it. September.”