By Jeff Aranow: Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) says he wants a rematch with IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in the near future. Lemieux was stopped by Golovkin in the 8th round last October in a fight televised on HBO pay-per-view.
Lemieux, 27, didn’t let his hands go in that fight, and it turned out to be a one-sided fight from start to finish for the Kazakhstan fighter. Lemieux says he realizes what he did wrong in that fight, and he’s been working on fixing those flaws in his game.
He’ll be able to show whether he’s learned from the defeat in his fight this Saturday night against James De La Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs) at the Olympia Theater in Montreal, Canada. The Lemieux vs. De La Rosa fight is scheduled for 10 rounds, and will be televised on Fox Deportes.
“There were some mistakes I made,” Lemieux said about his recent loss to Golovkin in an interview with ESPN.com. “I still have the confidence. Hopefully a future rematch. I know what I did wrong and what I should have done. Talking about it isn’t the right thing. It’s doing something about it, and I’m doing that in the gym right now to not do the same mistakes I did in the fight. Holding back and not letting my hands go,” Lemieux said in talking about what he did wrong against Golovkin. “I give Golovkin credit. He’s a great fighter, but I’ll get my chance again. I’m not even at my peak yet. I’m young in the business, and I’m learning a lot. I’m reaching some highs that I’ve never reached before, and that’s going to show in this upcoming fight,” said Lemieux.
Lemieux probably would have been in trouble against Golovkin even if he did let his hands go. But by not throwing punches, Lemieux lasted longer than many boxing fans expected him to. He did a good job of hanging in there as long as he did. If Lemieux is going to improve, then he’s going to need to learn some defense because he was getting hit too easily by Golovkin. Lemieux needs to cover up better, and move his head to get out of the way of incoming shots.
Golden Boy Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Promotions will likely steer Lemieux away from Golovkin for the near future. It would be a risky thing for them to let Lemieux get a second crack at Golovkin this early. It would be better for them to wait until Lemieux has proven that he’s improved enough to make it a fight next time. It also might be a good idea for them to wait until Golovkin ages a little to where he’s not as good as he is right now. Golovkin is fighting at too high of a level to put Lemieux in there with him a second time.
The De La Rosa fight will show where Lemieux is at with his game. It should be a good test for Lemieux. De La Rosa has decent punching power, but his chin is his weak spot. If Lemeiux can let his hands go, he should be able to stop De La Rosa pretty fast.
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