This breathtaking bit of brutality was perpetrated in New York City at Madison Square Garden, by a native of Khazakistan, against a hometown record-wrecker, a Brownsville native who has derailed careers two weight classes north of this fight. Curtis Stevens is a short light-heavyweight who had trimmed down to middle in an attempt to stop Gennady Golovkin, who owns the highest KO percentage in all of middleweight history. Golovkin is the current KO King of boxing. HBO put Stevens in his way to see if Gennady was the real deal. There was no doubt looking at these fighters in their dressing rooms that they were both bad, bad dudes.

This was an extended beating, in which Stevens’ cause was not aided by the Three Stooges act in his corner. His mother actually left her seat twice and turned away, the beating was so bad. The thing is, Curtis is dangerous, and proved it, rocking Gennady once. What did Gennady do? He asked for more, not in a face-saving or clowning way, but earnestly, because he wanted to trade, knowing that he owned even more power than Stevens. Finally the ref and the corner agreed to keep Curtis on his stool so his mother could get some kind of peace-of-mind. Golovkin had landed 101 power shots in Round 9, with Stevens offering no offense after being rocked to the body mid-round!

This was a good entertaining fight but there was something morbidly methodical about Gennady’s attack. After Round 9 I looked at my friend and we both agreed that we did not want to see anymore. Stevens was mishandled and was unable to work his own game plan because Gennady was so damned good. It is looking like a long Khazak night is falling over the middleweight division.

For you young fighters, be sure to follow Gennady and take note of these points:

Gennady gets away with looking over his jabbing hand because he uses an ‘orbital’ power jab that is so jarring it ranks as a power shot and opponents stop throwing over it as a matter of course early on. This is a hole in his defense, but could be regarded as bait. It does guarantee his chin will be tested but opens up opponents for his power combos. His jab is so strong it makes combinations, particularly the jab-to-cross-to-shovel hook. Gennady measures a lot with the closed glove, and did get called on it. Technically measuring calls are only supposed to be in response to uses of the open glove. Any man with a lead cross like Gennady has should measure whenever he can.

Gennady’s cross is as good as his jab. He often leads with the cross, over-pivoting to load his left leg for the hook. He protects himself in this exaggerated pivot by bending his left knee to coil the leg under the next punch as he rolls his right shoulder forward to protect against the hook to the chin.

Since Gennady loads his left leg so well his hooks are just sick. The crushing power in his shovel hook and Philly hook is crazy. Stevens was a rock to stand in there for 8 rounds after getting dropped early. Part of the reason his hook is so deceptive is because he gives away the jab and opens up with the elbow a little. This is not standard good form. But he already has space between the body and the elbow cutting down on the cue he gives away while initiating the hook. Again, this is enabled by that punishing jab that angles in off of that elbow, and the fact that he also uses that elbow to wing-block like a Mexican fighter, something that the new crop of Eastern European fighters are beginning to do to good effect.

The thing that really makes Gennady’s game work—in my opinion—is that he takes advantage of his punching power to break his opponent’s rhythm. Once he does that it’s a hunt pure and simple. Gennady Golovkin is like a cross between Carlos Monzon and Marvin Haggler, bringing Marvin’s kind of hurt from Carlos’ range with a mechanically broken rhythm that seems to be too dangerous for most fighters to be able to figure out.

I want to see Gennady Golovkin versus Chavez Junior.