USA Today names Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin fighter of the year

Russia's Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson from Canada also made the top three fighters of the year category, according to Golovkin's official Vkontakte page. Each fought four times, fairly rare among today's elite boxers, and each won all four by stoppage.

"Nobody lasted four rounds with Kovalev. Golovkin is probably the most avoided fighter out there today, but even so, his foursome was not as impressive as Stevenson's group, which included former light heavyweight champions Tavoris Cloud and Chad Dawson, who never made it out of the first round. Unbeaten Golovkin's patient, skillful and heavy-handed style has made him must-see TV for boxing fans. For that Golovkin is the fighter of the year for 2013," the article reads.

Golovkin also made the category "Honorable mention" for his crushing left-hand body shot against Matthew Macklin in the third round of the June encounter.