Golovkin KO's Ishida in three to retain WBA title
Gennady Golovkin (26-0) once again proved he is one of the most dangerous men in boxing with a devastating victory over Nobuhiro Ishida (24-9-2) on Saturday night in Monaco.
The 30-year-old knocked the durable veteran out cold in the third round of their WBA middleweight title fight.
Golovkin sought his opponent out in the first two rounds, measuring his shots well without having to force the tempo.
Ishida, in the twilight of his career at 37, had once held a portion of the light-middleweight title and despite eight defeats on his record had never been stopped.
That all changed in the third session though, a left uppercut followed by a hurtful right hand sent the tall Japanese boxer through the ropes.
It was quickly obvious the fight was over, with the Kazakh registering his 23rd knockout victory.
On the undercard, Manchester-based Belarussian Sergei Rabchenko (23-0) retained his European light-middleweight title with a similarly impressive stoppage of Adriano Nicchi (20-4-2).
Rabchenko, trained and promoted by Ricky Hatton, dominated against his over-matched Italian opponent with liberal use of the left upper-cut, ending it decisively in the second round with a looping left hook.