By Jake Donovan

Gennady Golovkin earned his 12th straight stoppage after systematically breaking down Gabriel Rosado inside of seven rounds Saturday evening at Madison Square Garden's The Theatre in New York City. 

Golovkin went to work early on Rosado, who was moving up from super welterweight for the middleweight title fight opportunity. A cut was produced by the end of the second round courtesy of a left jab, with Rosado's evening only getting worse from that point onward. 

Rosado was game for the cause, and briefly enjoyed momentum in a brave fifth round showing. Golovkin was hurt for the first time in the fight, along with a mouse developing under his eye. The moment was short-lived, however. Golovkin picked apart the North Philly product in the sixth round and proceeded to deliver a beatdown in a brutal seventh round.

Ironically, the round began with Rosado's corner telling the fighter they wanted to stop the fight, only for the fighter to overrule his corner. That decision was trumped towards the end of the round, when it was decided that his health was in danger after taking enormous punishment from Golovkin.

Rosado's corner literally threw in the towel, accompanied on the ring apron by a New York State Athletic Commission inspector to instruct referee Steve Smoger to stop the contest.

The official time was 2:46 of round seven.

Golovkin picks up his second straight stateside win - both of which have aired live on HBO - as he improves to 25-0 (22KO). 

Rosado - who sacrificed a mandatory super welterweight title fight with Cornelius 'K9' Bundrage to take this bigger opportunity - falls to 21-6 (13KO). The fight snaps a seven-fight win streak, with his last loss also coming in his last fight in the middleweight division more than two years ago. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox