Gennady Golovkin took his unbeaten run to 34 fights after he stopped David Lemieux to add the IBF middleweight title to his WBA belt.
Golovkin dominated the Canadian at a sold-out Madison Square Garden in New York, knocking him down in the fifth round, before the referee stepped in to stop the bout in the eighth.
“My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division,” Golovkin said. “I told you this was a very important fight. I give my fans and friends a big show. Thank you my fans. Thank you my people.”
Golovkin won every round as the 33-year-old Kazakh stopped an opponent for the 21st consecutive time.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut tonight but I’ll see him in the future,” Lemieux said.
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With Donald Trump watching from ringside, Golovkin took control of the bout early, with his precise punches finding the mark with regularity. Lemieux seemed tentative, though by the third round he was throwing wild right hands that Golovkin had little trouble avoiding.
Golovkin sent Lemieux staggering with a left hook to the head in the fourth round, then unleashed a series of head shots that backed the Canadian against the ropes.
The end came in the eighth round after a series of punches to the body and the head.
“I feel like the referee called the fight too early,” Lemieux said. “I am fine. When he stopped it I wasn’t event on the mat, I can keep going.”
The win put Golovkin in line for a possible meeting next spring against the winner of the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto on November 21.
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“He’ll be at the fight and he’ll be looking to fight the winner,” Tom Loeffler, the promoter, said. “Whoever wins that fight will clearly be at the top of the sport as Gennady is himself.”