By Al Classico: Yesterday we witnessed the highly anticipated battle for middleweight supremacy between Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (34-0, 31KO’s) and David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KO’s). The result went exactly as expected with Golovkin completely dominating Lemieux with his jab and control of range. Even though Lemiuex was a heavy underdog in this fight, the nature of the sport always gives the underdog the chance to be one punch away from scoring a KO win. Unfortunately for Lemieux, his chance never came.
This fight was billed as a middleweight war, but it was anything but that; instead it was a middleweight masterclass from GGG. Both men have a fearsome reputation for being knockout artists and their records certainly reflect this, however one of them has built his record on the base of strong fundamental boxing skills, the other predominantly on his raw punching ability and aggression. It is easy to see which one is which.
It is however slightly unfair to label Lemieux as a boxer who only posses raw punching ability as he wouldn’t have had such career success if this was the case. However when compared to someone like Golovkin he was clearly a league behind. This fight was a perfect example of why fundamental skills such as footwork, balance and knowing how and when to use the jab are so important and failing to learn them can cost a fighter dearly.
Although Lemieux does posses amazing power in both hands, it didn’t come into play against Golovkin because he was never able to get into position to set this up. His limited techincal ability dictated his tactical approach and his only chance was to score a lucky power punch to wobble Golovkin. Golovkin, a man with over 300 amateur fights and who posses sharp technical acumen never put himself into position to be on the receiving end of one of Lemieuxs bombs.
Golovkin controlled range from the opening bell with his always-balanced footwork and his effective use of the jab to firstly establish and control distance and secondly to continually disrupt Lemieux’s rhythm and advancement. Lemieux’s inability to use his own jab to effectively set up power combinations and his inability to dodge and get inside Golovkins jab was what cost him the fight. His only chance was to tee off from the opening bell and catch Golovkin before he got into rhythm. Once GGG was in rhythm the fight was as good as done.
Although I was rooting for Lemieux because he is a likeable character and more personable than Golovkin, I knew from the outset that Golovkin was too technically advanced for Lemieux to handle. This technical ability in combination with his genuine power was only going to end the fight in one way, just as we saw last night!
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