By Tim Fletcher: IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) says he’s having his best training camp ever in preparing for his unification fight against IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) on October 17th.
Lemieux has left no stone unturned in preparing for everything that the 33-year-old Golovkin can bring to the table in their fight on HBO pay-per-view. Lemieux says he’s been watching video of Golovkin, and he knows what to expect from the Kazakhstan fighter. Lemieux believes that Golovkin will fight as he always does by coming out fast looking to entertain the crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York.
But that’s where Lemieux believes he has a chance to score an upset by taking advantage of Golovkin’s attempts at trying to please the boxing fans by catching him with one of his own big shots to get him out of there.
Lemieiux is confident that his punching power will make his fight against Golovkin a 50-50 fight with it being fought on even terms from start to finish. Golovkin hasn’t had to face this kind of adversity in the past, Lemieux feels. He doesn’t see anyone on Golovkin 33-fight resume that has the kind of huge punching power that he possesses.
“I’m David, he’s Goliath,” Lemieux said to Fighthub. “It’s going to be a very tough fight. He’s a very good fighter, but I’m coming in ready. I’m not coming to fight him. I’m coming in to beat him. I’m in a different mindset, and I’m going to be more than ready for the fight. I know where the numbers are and I’m going to change that very soon against a guy like Golovkin, because he’s very strong. He’s a very complete fighter, but I’m coming to make sure I come in expecting everything and no surprises left in the ring,” Lemieux said.
Lemieux showed a lot of maturity in his last three fights in beating Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Gabriel Rosado and Fernando Guerrero. Those were all good fighters, but Lemieux beat them all with relative ease in going after them and was able to KO two of the three fighters.
The only fighter to make it the full 12 round distance was N’Dam, and the only reason he lasted the entire fight was because he stayed on the outside through most of it and was able to avoid Lemieux’s big shots. In the first seven rounds, Lemieux was able to get within punching distance of N’Dam to put him down four times.
After the 7th, N’Dam finally figured out how to stay upright by staying totally on the outside and moving frequently. It was strategy that saved him from being knocked down any additional times, but it was a losing strategy. There was no way that N’Dam could win while on the outside, especially with him having been knocked down four times in the first seven rounds of the fight.
I don’t think Golovkin will have any surprises for Lemieux on October 17th. With Golovkin, it’s what you see is what you get. He’s going to come right after Lemieux like he’s done against his past opponents. I do think Golovkin will choose to fight Lemieux much like he fought Curtis Stevens in 2013 by sticking to the outside for the most part and choosing to jab and throw pot shots a lot. Lemieux might have problems with this kind of fighting style if he’s unable to get near enough to throw his left hook. Lemieux couldn’t do anything with N”Dam when he went to the outside, so I suspect that we’ll see the same struggles from Lemieux against Golovkin if he goes to the outside.
@GGGBoxing Training in Big Bear w/@abelthesummit! #GolovkinLemieux 101715 On @HBO PPV #GGG2015Takeover @TomLoeffler1 pic.twitter.com/xuMDWWTrZk
— Bernie Bahrmasel (@BernieBahrmasel) September 24, 2015
“I’m working very hard with my team right now. It’s been my best camp ever,” Lemieux said. “We’re coming into this fight ready. The guns are loaded. I’ve seen him fight a lot also. I know he loves to give people a great show, but let’s see how he reacts when faced with similar adversity. He’s a very strong fighter. Let’s see how he reacts when he gets hit also. It’s going to be a tough fight. It’s going to be a war. I’m going to surprise the world. I didn’t train for nothing. On October 17th, my words will be put in motion. It’s going to be a great fight. It’s going to be a historical night. I’m leaving Madison Square Garden with my belts,” Lemieux said.
Golovkin is going to get hit with some tremendous shots in this fight. The only question is will he be able to handle the power from Lemieux that other fighters couldn’t handle? Golovkin is only human after all, and the kind of power that Lemieux has would give anyone in the division problems. Lemieux punches more like a light heavyweight than a middleweight. His left hook is out of this world.
Comments are closed.