Golovkin vs. Adama Recap:
Monte Carlo, Monaco – Gennady Golovkin made a powerful statement by scoring his sixteenth consecutive knockout by stopping a very game African challenger Osumanu Adama in the seventh round.
Much to the chagrin of the American boxing community, HBO chose to not pick up what could best be described as a stay busy fight for Golovkin. Despite Golovkin being arguably boxing’s fastest rising star and drawing increasingly high ratings, HBO opted not to televise the event because they deemed that the Monaco production quality did not meet their network standards. Fans and media were justifiably outraged. After all, HBO 2 did televise two Zou Shimming fights last year that took place all the way in China and for which there was little public demand for.
The bout began with a fast pace as Adama showed a strong jab in the first round, but Golovkin, as is his custom, pressed forward and scored a hard knockdown with an overhand right directly before the bell rang.
The Golovkin express kept rolling in the second round as he landed a variety of brutal power shots with both hands. Rounds three and four saw more Golovkin dominance as he used short powerful jabs and increasingly found the range on his patented short left hook.
In round five Adama made a valiant stand and came on very strong, landing a number of solid shots, including a right hand that seemed to get the champions respect. Golovkin, angered by Adama’s success, put the round back in his favor by busting Adama with a fuselage of power shots for the last minute of the stanza.
In round six it became obvious that Golovkin was starting to break the will of the game challenger. For the second time in the bout Adama spit out his mouthpiece causing a delay in the action and buying him some extra recovery time. Unbelievably, Adama spit it out for yet a third time before the referee Christodoulou could say box and still no points were taken. The brief pause was of no help to Adama, however, as Golovkin continued to pour on the aggression. A beautiful six-inch left uppercut/hook combination dropped Adama hard, but he was again saved by the bell.
The end was near, as Golovkin dropped a battered Adama with, of all things, a jab at the beginning of the seventh round. Adama bravely got up but moments later was stunned by a huge left hook, which had him out on his feet and the referee wisely called a halt to the bout.
It wasn’t Golovkin’s most polished performance but he must be given credit for taking care of business in a fight that must have been difficult to get up for. Adama suffered his fourth defeat, but proved to be a durable, game opponent. Hopefully the next time we see Golovkin in the ring he will be on HBO against a top rated opponent—if either can be accommodated. Golovkin improved his record to 29-0-0- (26).
