When he was in his prime Mike Tyson brought such an aura of invincibility and menace to the ring that most of his opponents faced him with survival rather than victory in mind.

The terror written across the faces of top heavyweights of the period — men such as Trevor Berbick, Michael Spinks and Britain’s own Frank Bruno — as they made their way to the ring to fight Tyson were illustrative of the youngest ever heavyweight world champion’s ferocious punching power and speed.

A fighter has emerged today with the same aura of menace and invincibility which Tyson once carried.

His name is Gennady Golovkin, he hails from Kazakhstan, and since turning professional after taking the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens he has put together a perfect record of 27 wins from 27 fights with 24 KOs.

He fights at middleweight, presently holds the WBA title, and is currently the most talked-about fighter on the planet apart from Floyd Mayweather Jnr.

Golovkin, who splits his time between Germany and the US, is a veritable wrecking machine, a middleweight who carries the power of a cruiserweight in his fists.

The fact he possesses the physique of a swimmer rather than a musclebound bodybuilder, and has the features of your average choir boy, only adds to the mystique surrounding him.

Most recently the demolition job he did on Britain’s Matthew Macklin in his last fight, taking the former British and European middleweight champion out with a crushing body shot in the third round of their contest back in June, left the boxing world stunned.

The most impressive thing about the 31-year-old’s performance in his last fight was how completely relaxed he appeared as he stalked Macklin around the ring like a predator hunting its prey.

Macklin — an experienced pro who before fighting Golovkin had been in with some of the top fighters in the division, the likes of Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm — opined in his post-fight interview that Golovkin was the best he’s ever faced.

During the fight Macklin just couldn’t get away from him. Golovkin cut off the ring so effectively that he never seemed to be out of range, breaking the British-Irish fighter down with a jab as powerful as most fighters’ backhands, along with crushing hooks. No slouch himself in the power department, Macklin’s shots registered little effect and by the third round it was only a matter of time.

Tonight Golovkin returns to action in another defence of his world title against Curtis Stevens at Madison Square Garden in New York. Stevens brings to the ring a decent record of 25 wins, 18 by KO, plus three losses.

The decision by HBO to carry the fight live is evidence of the stir being caused by Golovkin in the US, even though he’s yet to face the top names in the division — the likes of Martinez, Peter Quillin, Sturm, Julio Chavez Jnr, not forgetting Britain’s Martin Murray and Darren Barker, who currently holds the IBF title. The prospect of the Kazakh moving up in weight to face a Carl Froch, Andre Ward or George Groves is also a tantalising one.

Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez has made it known that he would like his charge to face either Mayweather or Froch next. Of the two Mayweather seems highly unlikely, even if the fight took place at 154lbs. Why would Mayweather risk his perfect record against a dangerous opponent with knockout power in both hands at this stage in his career? Froch is a different matter.

The super-middleweight two-belt world champion has made it known he sees this fight happening down the line, as does his promoter Eddie Hearn.

Mind you, Froch would be foolish to even think about looking beyond George Groves with just three weeks to go before their highly anticipated domestic clash on November 23.

Groves believes he can win this fight and this writer for one considers that the unbeaten Commonwealth champion possesses the style and attributes to do so.

But back to the Beast from the East in the shape of Golovkin, a name that is certain to grow in stature as only a fighter with his unique gifts can.

Adding to the package he brings is the fact that outside the ring there is none of the histrionics or drama that have come to be associated with the sport.

On the contrary this is a quiet assassin who does his talking in the ring, a man who can look forward to a second career as a Bond villain once he decides to hang up the gloves.

After tonight’s bout it’s a fair bet that his next opponent, Stevens, will agree.