The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of October 11
It's fight week in New York City!
Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux are set to do battle in their huge middleweight championship showdown Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, and we ask the key questions.
Can GGG vs. Lemieux be this generation's Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns?
And can GGG prove to be a huge pay-per-view star?
On the undercard, can Roman Gonzalez and Brian Viloria steal the show?
Next we move on to a pair of other significant fights this week, featuring IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby and Andrzej Fonfara.
These are the hottest boxing storylines for the week.
Can Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux Be This Generation's Hagler-Hearns?
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When Golovkin vs. Lemieux was announced over the summer, a fair number of people were willing to speculate about whether or not this fight could prove to be this generation's Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Tommy "Hitman" Hearns.
Hagler successfully defended his undisputed middleweight championship with a third-round stoppage of Hearns after two-plus exceptionally violent rounds in April 1985.
The fight is widely considered among the most exciting and dramatic of all time, which, of course, puts a lot of pressure on GGG and his Canadian counterpart if they hope to live up to what Ring Magazine called the "most electrifying eight minutes ever."
That's pretty heavy, but, if any fight out there can do it, this is it.
GGG is a wrecking ball who has amassed 20 consecutive knockouts while cutting a swath of destruction to the top of the middleweight division. The thud of his punches is sickening, particularly if you happen to have the pleasure/displeasure of witnessing them up close or receiving them.
Lemieux is no slouch either. The Canadian hitter, who receives a ton of credit for taking this fight one bout after winning his first world title, has 31 knockouts among his 34 wins (compared to 30 among 33 for GGG) and doesn't seem intimidated in the slightest by his foe's reputation.
This one is a big-fight fan's dream, and it seems destined to reach its potential, for however long it lasts.
It may not be as violent or exciting as Hagler-Hearns, but it's must-see TV for sure.
Just don't blink.
Can GGG Translate to PPV?
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GGG has been built as a superstar ever since his HBO debut in September 2012 with a devastating knockout win over Grzegorz Proksa.
He's an engaging personality outside the ring, a happy guy with a big smile and soft tone who turns into a vicious terminator once the bell rings and an opponent stands in his way.
Golovkin has knocked out 20 men in a row, with no signs of stopping, but he'll face the two toughest foes of his career Saturday night when he trades bombs with Lemieux and dips his toes into the waters of pay-per-view stardom.
There's a certain amount of risk in throwing this fight on PPV, given GGG's unproven ability to sell a big fight on his own and the somewhat limited notoriety (at least in the United States) of his opponent. But you never know until you try, and HBO has done a good job of taking steps to grow fan appeal for this event.
You'll only need to part with $49.95 (cable providers will tack on an extra 10 bucks for HD) to see the fight, which comes with a solid and headline-capable fight (at least on regular network) in its own right between Roman Gonzalez and Brian Viloria.
The bean counters and marketers have certainly done their job of doing everything possible to make this fight card a good value for your buck, and all that remains is to see whether or not GGG has graduated from star to superstar who can command a PPV audience.
If he can, and he wins, then he might just have found to key to make himself a marketable and worthwhile risk for the bigger names in the sport.
Will Chocolatito Steal the Show?
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Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez has arrived on the biggest of the big stages in the sport, and he just might be the one to steal the show Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The 112-pound Nicaraguan dynamo debuted to rave reviews on HBO earlier this year after spending many years as a fighter with a small but growing fanbase of "in the know" fans who tried desperately to get some attention on the sport's best relative unknown.
Gonzalez destroyed former world champion Edgar Sosa in May, and he'll face former multi-time champion, "The Hawaiian Punch" Brian Viloria in the co-featured bout on the GGG-Lemieux undercard.
Viloria is a tough challenge, even if he might be slightly past his best days, winning four fights in a row since dropping a close decision to Juan Francisco Estrada in 2013.
Chocolatito was recently voted the new No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by ESPN, \Ring Magazine and USA Today, based on the retirement of former occupant Floyd Mayweather Jr., his exciting in-ring style and undefeated record that features big wins over many of the lower weight division's best fighters.
All that's left for Gonzalez is to (once again) back it up in the ring Saturday night with a big win that steals the show.
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Welcome to America, Lee Selby
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Selby scored a minor upset in May with a convincing eight-round technical decision over the rugged Evgeny Gradovich that netted him the IBF Featherweight Championship.
The 28-year-old Brit makes his stateside debut Wednesday night on PBC on ESPN against former multi-time titlist Fernando Montiel as the co-featured bout on a card that (for some reason) features Devon Alexander and Aron Martinez in the main event.
Montiel is clearly no longer at his best, but he's won eight straight fights since dropping a decision to Victor Terrazas back in 2011. Most of those opponents were lower-level or past their best, so it's hard to tell whether or not he still has the goods to make for a competitive fight.
He does, however, remain a recognizable name with a solid pedigree for Selby's first fight in the United States.
Selby has a big opportunity to make a name for himself in a featherweight division that's loaded with top-shelf talent, and while beating Montiel won't mean as much today as it did in the past, it's a good starting point and introduction to a new audience.
Can Fonfara Enter the Title Picture?
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Fonfara manhandled, knocked down and forced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to quit in his last fight.
And a couple of fights before that he knocked down light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson before losing a competitive fight by decision.
Putting it another way, the 27-year-old Pole has opened up some eyes with his most recent performances.
Fonfara takes on former world champion Nathan Cleverly Friday night in the headline bout of PBC on Spike TV.
Cleverly is a former light heavyweight champion who has come back to 175 pounds after a pair of ho-hum wins over no-name opposition at cruiserweight followed by a rematch loss to Tony Bellew. This is a huge test for the once-promising Welsh fighter and an opportunity to re-establish credentials in a division where he hasn't fought since being bludgeoned by Sergey Kovalev.
And this is a huge fight for Fonfara.
His beatdown of Chavez Jr. was impressive, but more than a few people will diminish that performance for coming against, well, Chavez Jr., who has become the poster boy for entitlement in boxing today. That's not close to fair, but reality is what it is.
Fonfara can't afford a letdown here, or he could once again find himself at the back of the line. He needs to consolidate his big win and force himself into the title picture.
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