By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Abel Sanchez predicts that IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) will be running from IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) this Saturday night once he gets caught for the first time with a huge punch. Sanchez notes that Lemieux has talked a lot about what he’s going to do in the ring, and how he’s going to be fighting aggressively in looking to score a knockout.

Sanchez thinks all that talk is going to go out the window once Lemieux is hit hard for the first time with one of Golovkin’s big punches. Sanchez thinks that Lemieux will run and go against the ropes to try and cover up, which is what he ended up doing against Marco Antonio Rubio when he was hurt by him in their fight in 2011.

“He [Golovkin] has to go out and control him like anyone else,” Sanchez said about Golovkin controlling Lemieux on Saturday. “Everyone sees this kid [Lemieux] as a big puncher. I think he’s more like a George Foreman, more of a thumper. This [Golovkin] is a sharp puncher where once he hits you, you stay hit. You don’t get back up. You’re hurt. You don’t want to continue. David puts guys down and they get back up. I think the first punch that he [Lemieux] lands, a significant punch, we’re going to see a different fight. We’re going to see David running from him. We’re going to see David going against the ropes. We’re going to see David in a different fight, because he’s going to realize this is a different puncher,” Sanchez said.

I think there’s a very good possibility that Lemieux will back off if he gets hit with a significant punch from Golovkin on Saturday. If Lemieux gets hit by a similar shot that Golovkin’s last opponent Willie Monroe Jr got hit with in the 2nd round of their fight last May, then Lemieux will have to back off and run. If he doesn’t, then he’ll have made the mental decision to go down with his ship and just take a knockout rather than be seen running or steering different course.

Whether Lemieux makes it the full 12 rounds could be determined on how smart he is, and whether he’s able to make adjustments. If Lemieux is stubborn and prideful, then he’ll continue to stand in front of Golovkin once he gets nailed by something that buzzes him. If he doesn’t have the common sense to start moving at that point then he’s going to end up getting finished off quickly.

Sanchez is correct about Lemieux being more of a George Foreman type of puncher rather than a guy that puts you down with a single shot. Foreman always needed to pound on his opponents for a certain amount of time in order to wear them down before he knocked them out.

Golovkin is a different type of puncher. He’s more of Julian Jackson type with one-punch power. That could be why Floyd Mayweather Jr. wanted no part of Golovkin, and said he was too big. Mayweather beat a fighter that was even heavier than Golovkin in the 175lb Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, so Mayweather’s excuse about Golovkin being too big made little sense. The reality is Golovkin hits too hard with his single shots, and it would, given Mayweather no margin at all for error.

“If he’s [Golovkin] dumb enough to sit there and let David hit him with those wide looping punches and catch him with a good shot, then he deserves to be hurt,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think he’s that kind of fighter. I think he’s much more cerebral,” Sanchez said about Golovkin.