Golovkin beats Adama to retain WBA middleweight boxing title

Kazakh star Gennady Golovkin defended his WBA middleweight crown with a seventh round knock-out of Ghana's Osumanu Adama in Monte Carlo. The 31-year-old, a silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when an amateur, took his record to a perfect 29 victories in as many fights and 26 of those coming inside the distance. Adama was dropped three times on Saturday night before referee Luis Pabon waved off the contest. The 33-year-old Chicago-based Ghanaian's record dropped to 22 wins, with 16 KOs, and four defeats. The first knock-down came at the end of the first round from an overhand right before Adama took to using his reach advantage to keep Golovkin at bay with his jab. But he was knocked down again at the end of the sixth round and when he was put on the canvas in the seventh from a jab, the referee decided he'd seen enough. Golovkin, considered one of the best pound-for-pound (P4P) fighters in the world now wants to fight WBC champion Sergio Martinez of Argentina, also considered a top 10 P4P fighter. "I felt comfortable right from the beginning of the fight, he wasn't easy to box but he never hurt me," said the Kazakh. He said he wants to fight Martinez "to prove who is the best middleweight right now." Golovkin has also been tentatively touted as a possible opponent for light-middleweight Floyd Mayweather or super-middleweight Andre Ward, the consensus top two in the P4P rankings. Source: AFP