By Dan Ambrose: It’s generally understood by all that IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) is the underdog in his fight against IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) in their unification fight this month on HBO pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York.
Golovkin has the superior experience, punching power, amateur pedigree and talent going into this fight. Golovkin is in the prime of his career; whereas Lemieux is still not quite gotten to the top of his game yet. However, Lemieux’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions expects Lemieux to shock the boxing world with what he brings to the table in this fight on 10/17.
De La Hoya thinks that the 26-year-old Lemieux is going to pull off a big upset with the combination of punching power and boxing ability that he possesses. De La Hoya raves about Lemieux’s boxing skills despite the fact that he’s always been more of a crude slugger.
De La Hoya believes that Lemieux can out-box his opposition, and he clearly thinks that he’ll be able to do the job on the 33-year-old Golovkin this month when the two of them face each other at MSG in New York.
Face Off: #GolovkinLemieux premieres Saturday, October 10 at 11:20PM on @HBO pic.twitter.com/QNY11Si4be
— HBOboxing (@HBOboxing) September 29, 2015
“A lot of people are sleeping on Lemieux,” De La Hoya said. “I was in Canada the other day. This guy is looking sharp. He’s looking very, very sharp. He’s looking very fast, very strong, so it’s going to be quite interesting who wins this one,” De La Hoya said about Lemieux’s fight against Golovkin on October 17th. “I think this is Triple G’s first test ever in his career. So we’ll see if he passes it in November. I think with the Triple G-Lemieux fight, I think people are expecting Triple G to win. I truly feel that people are going to be shocked by what Lemieux brings to the table on October 17th, live from the Garden. Could you ever imagine a fighter from Kazahstan and a fighter from Canada selling out the Garden? Only in America, right? It’s pretty cool. We’re giving him [Lemieux] tips here and there, me and Bernard [Hopkins], but he knows what to do. Lemieux is an excellent, excellent boxer. It’s incredible. So I can’t wait to see him use his boxing abilities along with his power in October,” De La Hoya said.
In looking at how Lemieux labored in the last six rounds in his recent fight against Hassan N’Dam last June, it’s difficult for me to see Lemieux pulling off an upset over Golovkin. I just don’t see Lemieux as having the stamina, boxing ability, arm length or the talent to get the job done. Lemieux’s arms are too short, and his stamina is just too limited for him to be able to do well against Golovkin once the fight goes past the 6th round.
This advice that De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins have given to Lemieux, hopefully the advice is for Lemieux to go after Golovkin hard in the first six rounds to try and get the KO as fast as possible before his stamina gives out. If the advice is for Lemieux to try and take Golovkin into the deeper rounds, then I see it backfiring on them, because Lemieux will likely be fighting on fumes after the 6th.
When asked if his fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez should be considered the No.1 pound for pound fighter if he beats WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on November 21st, De La Hoya said “You can make an argument. You can definitely make a strong argument, but we’ll have to wait and see what pans out. It also depends on how he [Canelo] wins. But I feel this is Canelo’s time now. He just turned 25-years-old, so he has the future ahead of him,” De La Hoya said.
I don’t see how Canelo Alvarez could be seen as the No1. Pound-for-pound fighter in boxing if he beats Cotto. There would still be Golovkin out there for Canelo to fight, and without him fighting him, Canelo would only be seen as a temporary pound-for-pound No.1 fighter. I don’t really have much faith in the pound for pound rankings much of the time, but I would think even less of it if Canelo was shot to No.1 on the list with a win over Cotto. You can’t say Canelo is No.1 before he proves he’s better than Golovkin, and I don’t think he’s going to bother taking that fight because it’s too risky.
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