Big Drama Show: Gennady 'Triple G' Golovkin's top 5 KO wins

Former middleweight king Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin returns to action this Saturday against Sergiy Derevyanchenko, with fans of 'Triple G' expecting another 'big drama show' from the Kazakh KO artist at Madison Square Garden.

Golovkin is set to earn a reported $15 million for his fight against Ukrainian former Olympian Derevyanchenko who, despite having only 14 pro fights to his name, is considered an extremely strong contender in the 160 lbs division, having taken former Golovkin foe Daniel Jacobs the distance.

The fight is the second in Golovkin's comeback trail following his two fights with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, in which he claimed a draw before dropping a majority decision loss - the first of his career - in September 2018. 

Golovkin has a reputation as one of the fiercest punchers in middleweight history, with his vicious KO looking like a modern day highlight reel. Here, RT sport takes a look back at the top five knockouts from GGG.

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Curtis Stevens, November 2013, Retired round 8

Brooklynite Curtis Stevens had his own reputation as a rock-fisted puncher in the middleweight division when he went up against Golovkin for the WBA and IBO titles at Madison Square Garden in 2013. 

Hailing from the same Brownsville neighborhood as Mike Tyson, Stevens had racked up 18 KOs from 26 wins by the time of their meeting.

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Nicknamed the 'Cerebral Assassin', Stevens graced home turf to take on Golovkin and it didn't take long for the New Yorker to feel his fabled power.

Two thunderous left hooks put Stevens on the seat of his pants in the second round and the damage was evident by Stevens' look of sheer shock on his face.

Astonshingly, Stevens sustained six more rounds of punsihment before his corner called a halt to proceedings in round eight.

Matthew Macklin, June 2013, KO round 3

British-based Irishman Matthew Macklin had twice fought for the middleweight championship before meeting Golovkin, coming up just short against Felix Sturm and Sergio Martinez for versions of the title in 12 and 11 rounds respectively, and was considered a bona fide contender for the champion's crown.

When the two met at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Golovkin ensured his night with Macklin wouldn't last nearly as long. 

Perhaps the most vicious KO of Golovkin's career was delivered in round three when the champion backed Macklin into the ropes and ripped a perfect left hand to the liver to crumple Macklin to the floor and send him writhing around in agony.

David Lemieux, October 2015, TKO round 8

When Golovkin took on David Lemieux at MSG to defend his titles, it was considered perhaps the meeting of the two hardest hitters in the middleweight division.

The Canadian contender had racked up 31 KOs in 34 wins against two defeats, having acquired the IBF belt in his previous fight.

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Lemieux suffered a vicious beating from the first bell, and as the fight went on Golovkin adminstered a savage body attack, dropping Lemieux in the fifth round with a perfect left to the liver.

Lemieux rose but the punishment continued into the eighth round, where a further body shot on the end of an unanswered multi-punch combination forced referee Steve Willis to stop the action.

Marco Antonio Rubio, October 2014, KO round 2

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Golovkin's skill set is the ability to find precise points of the body to hit. The 36-year-old has in his arsenal the knack to exploit the most tender parts of an opponents body.

No matter how good a fighter's defense, 'Triple G' always seems to find away past the guard with with a laser-like precision.

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That was never more evident than in his 2014 fight with Marco Antonio Rubio. On a six-fight win streak since losing a WBC title tilt against Julio Cesar Chavez, Rubio was confident heading into their StubHub Center clash. 

Any confidence was knocked clean out of the Mexican in the second round, when Golovkin unleashed a looping left hook high round and over Rubio's guard that came crashing down onto the top of his head.

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Such a punch seemed firstly improbable to execute, and even less likely to knock a fighter out. But it did exactly that, scrambling Rubio's senses and dropping him for the count.

Daniel Geale, July 2014, TKO round 3

Former WBA and IBF world middleweight champion was considered perhaps the toughest test of Golovkin's career at that point, but Golovkin attacked the Australian from the off at his Madison Square Garden second home, neutralizing his opponent's footwork by battering him into the ropes with solid right hands.

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One of those rights caught Geale high on the back of the head and sent him crashing to the floor in the second round, and although Geale jumped straight back up the damage had been done. 

In the third, Geale had his best success in landing a straight right to Golovkin's face as the Kazakh champion wound up his own right hand. Barely flinching, Golovkin still managed to follow trough and nail Geale to deck him again.

Geale bravely rose, attempted to bounce across the ring to regain his senses, but a resigned shake of the head from the beaten contender forced the referee to wave off the action and Golovkin carved out another terrorizing KO win.