Gennady Golovkin stopped Willie Monroe Jr in the sixth round to retain his WBA and IBO middleweight titles with his 20th consecutive knockout victory.
Kazakhstan's Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) put on another showcase performance at the Forum in Los Angeles, knocking down the American twice in the second round and again in the sixth round of his 14th consecutive title defence.
"It was a good big drama show," Golovkin said. "I was happy with my performance. Willie is a very tough fighter."
When Golovkin floored Monroe (19-2) with a long series of heavy punches in the sixth, the challenger declined to continue after his final trip to the canvas.
"I'm done," Monroe told referee Jack Reiss.
Golovkin delighted a Southern California crowd of 12,372 backing the Kazakh champion who has gone from anonymity to stardom in less than three years.
Golovkin made the fight with Monroe when he couldn't entice bigger-name fighters into the ring, and he named names after the fight, calling out Miguel Cotto and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Golovkin intends to fight two more times this year, staying busy and growing his own reputation as one of the world's pound-for-pound best fighters.
Eariler, Nicaragua's Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez also defended his WBC flyweight title in style with a furious second-round stoppage of Mexican veteran Edgar Sosa.
Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) seized the chance provided by his first showcase on HBO with a masterful performance against Sosa, a talented veteran contender. Chocolatito battered Sosa around the ring in the first round and dropped him three times in the second.
"I'm very happy with my performance," Gonzalez said. "He was a tough fighter, but my power was too much."
Throwing sharp combinations and showcasing power in both hands, Gonzalez floored Sosa (51-9) twice with brutal right hands before finishing him with a multi-punch barrage against the ropes with 23 seconds left in the second round, forcing referee Raul Caiz Jr. to step in.
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