De La Hoya: Lemieux can beat Golovkin

By Boxing News - 10/16/2015 - Comments

1-GolovkinLemieuxWeighIn_Hoganphotos3By Dan Ambrose: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya is banking on IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) beating IBO/WBA middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) this Saturday night.

De La Hoya thinks that Lemieux has the right combination of punching power and boxing skills to pull off the upset at Madison Square Garden in New York. Like Lemieux, I don’t think De La Hoya would even call it an upset because he firmly believes in his fighter.

The problem is not too many other people are giving Lemieux much of a chance in this fight because they see him as being too flawed to beat a fighter as skilled as Golovkin. Lemieux is getting $2 million for this fight, so even if he does lose, he’s going to be doing well financially. Lemieux can cry all the way to the bank.

“This is the fight of his life, the one he has been waiting for to take him to the next level,” De L Hoya said via ESPN.com about Lemieux. “Yes, it is not an easy one, but is a fight that David can win.”

A win over Golovkin will temporarily take Lemieux to the next level, but it won’t keep him there if he can’t beat the winner or loser of the Miguel Cotto vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight. I don’t think Lemieux can beat either of those guys, and I think he would struggle badly against the likes of Peter Quillin, Billy Joe Saunders, Chris Eubank Jr and Andy Lee.

YouTube video

Getting to the next level is one thing, but staying there is where the hard work comes. The only way I see Lemieux getting to the next level and staying there for a while is if he pulls off an upset of Golovkin and then takes it easy for two or three years padding his record against weak opposition. Even that would be extremely hard for Lemieux to do because he’s going to have to defend his IBF title against the winner of the Tureano Johnson vs. Eamone O’Kane.

“The initial plan in my head is that I’m ready, and it’s now or never; let’s do it,” Lemieux said. “Golovkin is at his best. I’m getting to my best, and I will be at my best on [Saturday]. So in my head, if I beat the best middleweight there is, everybody is pointing their fingers at me. I’m going to be the best, so that’s the plan.”

Lemieux has a strange way of looking at things. It’s not the end of the world if he gets beaten to a pulp by Golovkin. Lemieux can come back from the loss and likely still win another world title. But it just means that he’s going to need to lower his sights a little by going after one of the other middleweight champions like Daniel Jacobs or Andy Lee.



Comments are closed.