Foxwoods, Conn. -- Undefeated middleweight Gennady Golovkin stopped English challenger Matthew Macklin in the third round Saturday night to successfully defend his WBA and IBO titles.

Golovkin improved to 27-0 with his 24th knockout and 14th in a row, using a left hand to the body to flatten Macklin (29-5) 1:22 into the third. Golovkin dominated the first two rounds, landing several hard combinations. Golovkin has made five successful title defenses and hasn't gone the distance in a fight since June 2008 against Amar Amari in an eight-round bout.

Macklin has lost three of his last four fights. He lost a split decision to Felix Sturm in June 2011 for the WBA super middleweight crown, and dropped another title shot in March 2012 to Sergio Martinez.

"He's the best I ever fought," a game Macklin said. "He never really let me get started.  It was a great shot he landed, the left hook to the body is personally one of my favorites.  I tip my hat to him; he's a great champion.  He has clubbing, solid power and you can feel the weight of every punch he throws."