Gennady Golovkin knocks out Steve Rolls in fourth round on return to ring

Gennady Golovkin's return to the ring was short and sweet as he knocked out Steve Rolls with 51 seconds remaining in the fourth round of their super-middleweight fight in New York on Saturday night.

Golovkin (39-1-1 35KOs) looked slow and tentative, perhaps rusty due to being out of action since September 2018, until he began landing regularly in the fourth round.

A cautious Rolls hardly threw any punches in the first three minutes but gained confidence and snapped Golovkin's head back with a sharp left in the second round.

Former middleweight world champion Golovkin systematically broke down Rolls from that point on, however, having particular success with body shots.

A massive left decked Rolls in the fourth and, after struggling to get up, he was clearly in no condition to continue.

Golovkin previously had Rolls in trouble in the round thanks to a series of strong and quick combinations that were reminiscent of the Kazakh at his best.

Rolls, a Canadian in his first bout at Madison Square Garden, sustained his first defeat after 19 wins.

It was Golovkin's first fight since his somewhat controversial loss to Canelo Alvarez in September 2018, a bout in which he surrendered all three of his middleweight belts.

Afterwards, an ecstatic Golovkin made it clear who he wants next.

"Everybody knows. Everybody knows," he said.

"First guys, of course, I'm ready for Canelo in September. I'm ready to come out. Just ask him. If you want a big drama show, please tell him."