Gennadiy Golovkin had a piercing body shot KO to defend world title years before Canelo Alvarez rivalry

Gennadiy Golovkin defended his world title against Matthew Macklin with knockout blow

First becoming a world champion in 2010, Golovkin would hold a middleweight belt all the way until 2018.

This emphatic run would see a catalogue of incredible finishes, including a devastating knockout in 2013.

June 2013 would see Matthew Macklin from the United Kingdom challenge Golovkin for his WBA World Middleweight title. The challenger went into the bout with a 29-4 record, as Golovkin boasted 26 victories and no defeats.

However, Macklin would seemingly have little to offer an in-form Golovkin, who had won all but one of his fights via stoppage. In the third round, Macklin would be sent to the canvas with a piercing shot to the body.

With his opponent against the ropes, Golovkin would land an inch-perfect left hook to the body that sent Macklin crashing down. The challenger showed expressions of pain on the canvas as the referee waved off the bout.

Gennadiy Golovkin finished his career with an 88% knockout rate

With a final career record of 42-2-1, Golovkin was able to get the better of every opponent except for Alvarez. As well as this, 37 of his wins came by way of knockout.

The first fighter to survive ‘GGG’s’ power was Mehdi Bouadla (11-1), who brought a 25-year-old Golovkin the distance in 2007. Amar Amari (13-9-1) and Ian Gardner (20-3) would also hear the final bell against Golovkin the following year.

No one would be able to survive Golovkin’s power for another nine years. Then, in 2017, Daniel Jacobs (32-1) truly tested Golovkin but narrowly fell short on the judges’ scorecards.

Despite knocking down Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-1) in 2019, Golovkin would be taken the distance by the Ukrainian. This would be the final victory of Golovkin’s career that came by way of decision.