Two of boxing's top five pound-for-pound talents, Roman Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin, entered the ring Saturday against legitimate opposition who intended to provide them a test and not just a payday. In today's boxing landscape, that alone is reason to celebrate. Most fighters make a career out of avoiding the toughest tests. Golovkin and Gonzalez have made theirs by seeking them out at every turn. 

Both men are managed by K2 Promotions, a company founded by a legitimately smart boxer, Wladimir Klitschko, and run by one of the canniest individuals in the game day-to-day, Tom Loeffler. Loeffler has managed, somehow, to rebrand a Kazakh amateur star as pseudo-Mexican and make him into a serious star in the U.S. boxing constellation. His fine work got that fighter, Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), his biggest paycheck to date in London's sold-out O2 Arena against an undefeated welterweight titlist.

Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) had the unenviable task of taking on boxing's most fearsome fighter in a vain quest for glory. Golovkin's fists are mythical at this point, but for almost three rounds, Brook looked more game than anyone Golovkin has faced during his HBO run. The second round was particularly impressive, with hard uppercuts landing and even rocking Golovkin's head back. He claimed later not to have felt Brook's punch, but film doesn't lie. Brook was making it a fight and Golovkin's desperation was palpable.

By the fourth, Brook's legs did a worse and worse job keeping him away from the headhunting GGG, who through the unexpected adversity, never stopped hunting for a scalp. In the fifth round, Brook and his swelling right eye almost completely stopped throwing back, making the question "when" and not "if." Golovkin was in pure hunter-killer mode, and Brook's corner knew it. Dominic Ingle, who is Brook's trainer, stood on the ring apron for 20 or so seconds waving his towel before finally hurling it at the referee to force the stoppage.

Fans in the arena and at home were stunned by the finish. Brook was certainly hurt, but clearly defending. Boxing culture, in that circumstance, demands he continue until the appropriate amount of trauma has been inflicted. Ingle, to his credit, made that call for himself and for his fighter's long-term well-being. 

Both fighter and corner revealed in post-fight interviews that the swelling was secondary to a more serious issue that seemed to be partially blinding Brook. Later examination showed that Brook was suffering from a broken orbital bone and was bravely pushing through pain. Judges in the arena even had Brook ahead at the time of stoppage.

While not necessarily changing much about the perpetually mediocre middleweight boxing scene, the fight and win put Golovkin in front of a huge international audience. HBO announcers attempted in vain to hype up a fight with Canelo Alvarez, but GGG has moved past taking the bait. He instead chose to call out another British-based fighter, Billie Joe Saunders, looking for another big purse and house in the UK.

The other big names at middleweight Golovkin might actually fight share similar geographic space. Andy Lee is a popular former champion in Ireland, and Chris Eubank Jr. (who Brook effectively replaced at the last minute) has been named multiple times as a potential Golovkin opponent. In recent years, Golovkin has moved seamlessly between New York, Monte Carlo, and Los Angeles. Perhaps London might be added to that mix as a GGG fixture?

Back in the U.S., HBO telecasts a flyweight title fight in a headlining position for the first time since Jorge Arce starred in a Boxing After Dark show in 2007. K2's other emerging international star, Roman Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs), has been titled "The Little Drama Show" in honor of Golovkin, to whom he's been tied to as a promotional duo. Under the bright lights of the LA Forum, he lived up to that and more with a 12-round war against Mexico's Carlos Cuadras (35-1-1).

Cuadras, largely an unknown to fight fans outside his homeland, played a game of cat and mouse with "Chocolatito" most of the night, forcing Gonzalez to practically run across the ring to keep up his attack. Having moved up to his fourth weight class after starting at the minimum/hayweight of 105 pounds, Gonzalez's punches didn't seem to impact the comparatively beefy Cuadras the way they had like-sized men. When he did engage, that gave the larger man the courage to go all out. Both men exchanged brutal punches throughout the fight, much to the delight of pretty much everyone with a pulse.

Ultimately, the judges favored Chocolatito's straighter punching and forward attack to Cuadras' spring-and-brawl style. Cuadras closed the fight out strong and the young Mexican fighter has nothing to be ashamed of. A rematch would be an obvious next step. Gonzalez, a nearly certain first ballot Hall of Famer with the win, had a big money international fight in the hyping process here too -- this one was against Japanese phenom Naoya Inoue, the reigning WBO champ and most people's pick for No. 1 at the weight.

On both cards, K2 employed the blueprint promoters should have followed for the last 20 years. First, identify the best talent in the world. Not the best fighter of a specific ethnicity you believe you can exploit, but simply the best fighter. Second, take that fighter and put him in situations and interviews that humanize him. Third, money made anywhere is still money. Don't fear globalism. Embrace it. Falling PPV revenue and a reduction in TV outlets willing to pay for boxing demands this kind of advanced thinking. While Golden Boy and Top Rank have the bigger names, K2 is leading the sport into the future.