ON Saturday Gennady Golovkin was meant to get a chance at revenge against Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas, after their controversial 2017 draw. The Mexican though failed a drug test and “GGG” was left looking for a replacement. Gennady Golovkin vs Vanes Martirosyan was made and moved off pay-per-view. The location also changed to the Stub Hub Center in Carson.

Martirosyan was not sanctioned by the IBF, though they did grant Golovkin an exception. The Kazakh is putting his WBC and WBA titles on the line. There was little risk of him losing those belts. Martirosyan made a promising start, flicking in quick shots in the first round.

If Golovkin was slow off the mark, he rectified that in the second. He pounced on the Armenian with shocking force. Heavy hooks hurt Vanes. Golovkin stunned him with a left, blasted round his right and hammered Martirosyan to the canvas to end the bout in the second round.

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