By Dan Ambrose: IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) expects to take not only IBO/WBA 160lb champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s two titles when he faces him on October 17th on HBO pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York, but Lemieux also thinks he’ll take over Golovkin’s spot as the No.1 feared middleweight in the division.
Right now, Golovkin is seen as the most feared middleweight in the division in the minds of a lot of boxing fans. We still don’t know if that’s an accurate picture of whom Golovkin is because he’s not faced Lemieux, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Peter Quillin, Daniel Jacobs or Andy Lee. But we’re going to at least find out if Golovkin is good enough to beat Lemieux or not to keep his most feared reputation.
“I’ve said that I don’t care who I fight, so long as they are the best, and Golovkin is the best out there in the middleweight division,” Lemieux said. “GGG may be the most feared man in boxing, but after October 17th, there will be a new feared man in the middleweight division. Two very powerful punchers are coming into the ring. There will be blood; there will be fireworks, and I am confident I will emerge victorious.”
Lemieux can probably punch as hard as Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) if no harder. The Canadian fighter matches up well with Golovkin in punching power. Where he might not match up well is with his boxing skills. Lemieux doesn’t have great boxing ability, and this is still an area that can be exploited, as we saw in his last fight against Hassan N’Dam.
In the rounds where Lemieux was unable to knock N’Dam down, Lemieux lost many of them. He was getting out-boxed by N’Dam, especially in the later part of the fight. Despite knocking N’Dam down four times, Lemieux only won by the scores of 115-110, 115-110 and 115-110 in winning a 12 round decision.
Most boxing fans feel that Lemieux’s best shot of beating Golovkin is to get to him in the first six rounds to try and knock him out. If Lemieux can’t get Golovkin out in the first half of the fight, then his chance of beating him go down dramatically in the 2nd half of the fight.
Lemieux is mostly just a six-round fighter at best. He’s dangerous for six rounds, and then totally loses it in the last six rounds. If Golovkin is still standing after the 6th round on October 17th, then Lemieux might as well quit on his stool, because it’s likely going to end badly for him with him getting knocked out by Golovkin.
Lemieux’s fighting style is made to order for Golovkin. It’s a style that he really likes to fight against. The same goes for Cotto and Canelo. They love to fight straight ahead punchers like Lemieux. Even if Lemieux beat Golovkin, he would have a very, very difficult time trying to get by the winner of the Cotto-Canelo fight. I don’t think they would hesitate to fight Lemieux next if he comes up with the victory over Golovkin.
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