By Jim Dower: IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) recognizes that his unification fight against IBF 160lb belt holder David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) is far and away the most dangerous fight of his 10-year pro career in their October 17th fight on HBO pay-per-view.
Golovkin, 33, doesn’t mess things up with his successful career right before he’s about to strike pay dirt in getting a fight against the winner of the Miguel Cotto vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight. That’s where the big money comes in for Golokvin. What he makes against Lemieux will be nothing compared to the big cash he can make against the winner of the Cotto-Canelo fight on HBO PPV.
To Golovkin, it’s not just the money. He wants to prove that he’s the best fighter in the middleweight division, and for him to do that he’s going to need to beat the Cotto-Canelo winner, and then look to face WBO champ Andy Lee and the WBA “regular” champion Daniel Jacobs, if he can ever get him and his adviser Al Haymon to agree to a fight against him.
“This is a great opponent,” said Golovkin at the Montreal press tour. “Probably the most dangerous of my career, and I respect him. We will have to cross a big step October 17. We both have a chance to win. We are two champions and we’ll see in the arena which is the best middleweight.”
It’s definitely true that Lemieux is the most dangerous opponent of Golovkin’s career. Before this fight, his most dangerous opponents have been Curtis Stevens, Matthew Macklin, Daniel Geale, Martin Murray, Willie Monroe Jr. and Gabriel Rosado. Those are all B-level fighters with decent but not great power. Stevens can punch, but he didn’t have much size at 5’7”, which made it extremely difficult for him to land his shots.
Lemieux isn’t much taller than Stevens. We’re probably talking about Lemieux being around 5’8 ½” at the most. When Lemieux and Golovkin stood in a face off during the kickoff press conference, the 5’10 ½” Golovkin looked at least two inches taller than Lemieux, which would make Lemieux approximately 5’8 ½”. The lack of height could be a problem for Lemieux in this fight, and his lack of arm length could be even more of a problem for the Canadian fighter.
“Many have a crush on Golovkin, but I promise that soon he will be struck by lightning!” said Lemieux. “I will prove to the people what I’m capable of…I’m not going there to fight against him, I’m going there to win against him.”
It’ll definitely be a huge shocker if Lemieux bursts Golovkin’s bubble by stopping him before he can get to the Canelo-Cotto winner. Few boxing fans are expecting Lemieux to win this fight, but he’s definitely got the punching power and youth to do the job on Golovkin in this fight. Golovkin could get sloppy by trying too hard to get a stoppage win and overlooking the danger that Lemieux brings to the ring with his equally good power.
Golovkin and his team came in an hour and a half late for the press conference. It’s unclear what happened. Lemieux wasn’t happy about it. He voiced his displeasure on Twitter, saying he hopes their not late for the fight on October 17th at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Today will be the final stop of the Golovkin-Lemieux 3-city press tour when they visit Los Angeles, California for the final press conference.
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