By Tim Fletcher: IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) feels that he’s going to be a much different type of test for IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) than the type of opponents he’s been facing when they battle it out on October 17th.
Lemieux, 26, thinks his big punching power will be too much for Golovkin to handle in this fight. While Lemieux has a lot of respect for Golovkin’s own punching power, he suspects that he’ll be able to get to the Kazakhstan fighter with his own big shots before he can get to him.
Lemieux sees something in Golovkin’s fighting style that he believes he can take advantage of immediately in the 1st round when the two start trading bombs for the first time. Lemieux isn’t going to wait around before he starts throwing his huge shots. He intends on going after Golovkin from the very start of the fight.
“Golovkin has not faced a fighter like me before. I am an aggressive fighter and I am confident in my abilities. I feel that I will be successful on Oct. 17,” Lemieux said at his media workout on Wednesday in Montreal, Canada.
Golovkin and Lemieux will be fighting on HBO pay-per-view next month rather than on regular HBO. The cable network believes that there is enough interest in the fight between them to warrant the fight being put on HBO. It might end up being a mistake on HBO’s part.
The two fighters are popular, but they might not be popular enough to ask boxing fans to pay to see them fight. For Golovkin, it’s crucial for the fight to bring in good PPV numbers. If it doesn’t, then it could cost him a fight against the winner of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto fight.
The winner of that fight will have an excuse not to fight Golovkin if his fight brings in only 100,000 PPV buys or less. If the fight brings in 300,000 buys, it would be a respectable number, because that’s the number that Cotto and Canelo have been bringing in for their own pay-per-view fights when they’ve been the A-side fighter.
If the Golovkin vs. Lemieux fight brings in small number of PPV buys, then this could be the last time that we see Golovkin as the A-side headliner in a PPV fight. He might get a chance to fight again on PPV in the future, but only if he’s facing the likes of Cotto or Canelo, and he wouldn’t be the A-side fighter in either of those bouts.
@GGGBoxing Training in Big Bear w/@abelthesummit! #GolovkinLemieux 101715 On @HBO PPV #GGG2015Takeover @TomLoeffler1 pic.twitter.com/xuMDWWTrZk
— Bernie Bahrmasel (@BernieBahrmasel) September 24, 2015
Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez says that it doesn’t matter if the Cotto-Canelo winner decides against fighting him. Sanchez says that they only want the WBC title, and they’ll be just as happy to pick the title up without fighting the Cotto vs. Canelo winner as they would if they fight the winner. I think behind closed doors it’s a different story.
Golovkin needs to fight Canelo or Cotto in order to increase his popularity, and Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Sanchez both know that. If Golovkin can’t get the big names like Cotto or Canelo to ever agree to fight him, then it’s going to be next to impossible for him to get to the next level to become a big superstar.
“It means a lot to have Oscar and Bernard here with me today,” Lemieux said. “I feel like I am stepping on their footsteps on my way to something great, on my way to become the next great world champion. They are a great example to me, I respect their career and the men they are.”
Lemieux is way behind the things that De La Hoya and Hopkins have accomplished in their careers. Lemieux is a good fighter, but he’s probably not someone that will be able to move up in weight and find success at 168 and 175.
De La Hoya captured world titles in six different divisions. Hopkins won titles at middleweight and light heavyweight and he’s had an incredibly long career. I don’t expect to see Lemieux still fighting when he’s 50-years-old like Hopkins.
“This is the fight of his [Lemieux] life, the one he has been waiting for to take him to the next level. Yes it is not an easy one but is a fight that David can win,” De La Hoya said. “Everyone is so accustomed to seeing Golovkin be a forward and aggressive boxer, but I don’t think he will do that with David. David will put the pressure on him and it will be an advantage for David.”
Lemieux has to put the pressure on Golovkin because he won’t last long if he lets Golovkin pick his spots to land his single power shots. Golovkin won’t try and crowd him like he did in his fights against Martin Murray and Willie Monroe Jr., because Lemieux hits too hard for him to use that kind of strategy against them.
Golovkin was able to crowd those fighters because they didn’t have the power to worry him. Lemieux is a much different fighter than those guys. If Golovkin doesn’t respect Lemieux’s punching power from the outset, he could wind up getting knocked down or knocked out.
Golovkin’s on his face swells up quickly when he gets hit, and Lemieux could wind up cutting him up around the cheeks and eyes if he lands enough solid blows early in the fight.
If Golovkin sees his own blood, he could be a much different fighter than the one we’ve seen in the past. Golovkin hasn’t had to fight with blood leaking into his eyes, and he might not be able to deal with that experience very well.
Some fighters panic when they get cut, and try and attack to score a knockout because they fear the fight will get stopped due to the cut. Golovkin could fall into that trap. It’s impossible to know how Golovkin will handle fighting with a cut eye, but we could find out on October 17th.
“This time Golovkin will be in front of David for David to land his big punches,” De La Hoya said.” I believe it is going to be easier than N’Dam because of his style. N’Dam was a long range fighter and was using his distance and I believe David will knock out Golovkin. GGG has not faced a strong fighter and a smart fighter like David Lemieux in his career.”
De La Hoya seems to be forgetting about the punching power that Golovkin will be bringing to this fight. It’s not just going to be Lemieux with huge power in this bout. Lemieux is going to need to hold Golovkin back or else he’ll obliterate him quickly.
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