Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux: Everything You Need to Know
The race to fill the retired Floyd Mayweather’s perch atop the boxing mountain begins with the sport’s first big fight pay-per-view fight since “Money May” called it quits. Gennady Golovkin faces David Lemieux in a middleweight title-unification fight that’s sure to pack more blood-and-guts action and rip-roaring violence in it for however long it lasts than the last six Mayweather fights combined.
But can Golovkin stake his claim to the vacant throne? Or will the hard-hitting Lemieux do the unthinkable and deactivate Golovkin’s status as the most fearsome fighter on the planet.
Bleacher Report presents everything you need to know about Golovkin-Lemieux.
Gennady Golovkin
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Age: 33
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 160
Reach: 70 inches
Stance: Orthodox
Record: 33-0 (30 KOs)
Rounds Fought: 146
Trainer: Abel Sanchez
Golovkin looks like a star. He acts like a star. But is he?
The Kazakhstan-born fighter is likeable, fan-friendly and marketable enough as a human being to be featured in the latest Apple commercial. More importantly, he appears to have the goods to be a Hall of Fame-caliber fighter.
But Golovkin hasn’t been able to prove himself against the very best fighters in his weight class. While his resume is impressive, highlighted by 14 straight defenses of his WBA title and a 20-fight knockout streak, it lacks anything on it resembling championship-caliber middleweights.
That isn’t to say Golovkin hasn’t defeated good fighters. He has. But Golovkin hasn’t had a chance to face a real top-tier middleweight to prove he’s what everybody seems to think he is: the best 160-pound fighter on the planet.
That ends on Saturday. If Golovkin is the real deal, he’ll come out on top against Lemieux in a firefight. If he’s not, Lemieux has the ability to expose him as a media creation.
David Lemieux
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Age: 26
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 160
Reach: 70 inches
Stance: Orthodox
Record: 34-2 (31 KOs)
Rounds Fought: 120
Trainer: Marc Ramsey
Lemieux’s fighting career lends credence to the axiom about cream always rising to the top. The talented, hard-hitting Canadian suffered consecutive losses in 2011, but has since rebounded in a big way. In his ninth straight win since going through that rough patch, Lemieux defeated Hassan N’Dam for the vacant IBF middleweight title.
Whoever the fighter was that Marco Antonio Rubio stopped and Joachim Alcine decisioned four years ago is gone now. The Lemieux of today is a legitimate top-tier middleweight.
And a win for Lemieux over Golovkin wouldn’t just derail the GGG hype train. It would rev up the engine of Lemieux’s own stardom and catapult him into the forefront of mainstream boxing. He’s an exciting fighter. His style resembles popular 1920’s heavyweight Jack Dempsey, and he possesses movie-star-quality looks. If he can succeed in the ring like a star, he can absolutely become one.
But whatever happens against Golovkin, Lemieux should be credited for taking the toughest fight out there immediately after laying claim to a middleweight title. Lineal champion Miguel Cotto hasn’t come close to doing that, and most other guys in the division, or even boxing, really haven't either.
The Stakes
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Golovkin and Lemieux will battle for Golovkin’s WBA and Lemieux’s IBF world title belts. The winner will become a unified middleweight champion, something that denotes what all fighters in the sport should be more willing to do: face the best competition available.
But there’s more to the fight than just that. Golovkin and Lemieux have a chance to put on a good show, and that’s something boxing badly needs. Face it, after you invited your friends over to watch the long-awaited Mayweather-Pacquiao fight earlier this year, almost all of them left disappointed.
That won’t be the case on Saturday. For however long the fight lasts, Golovkin and Lemieux will put on an exhibition of pure violence. While the hardcore fight fans among us may have enjoyed Mayweather's technical brilliance, and even Pacquiao's applied boxing tactics during their fight, most everyone else would prefer something more akin to what happens in Rocky movies.
Golovkin-Lemieux is for them. It has fight-of-the-year potential and will be a fun fight even if it doesn’t live up to its full potential. Both fighters are coming to knock each other out, and frankly neither cares as much about defense as maybe he should.
If your non-boxing friends will come back over to watch a fight with you, invite them to Golovkin-Lemieux.
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Undercard
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Nobody buys a boxing PPV for the undercard. Still, it’s always a nice bonus when such a card has undercard fights worth watching, and Golovkin-Lemieux has at least provided that. Saturday’s PPV undercard fights are above-average in that regard, and the featured undercard bout is excellent.
Roman Gonzalez vs. Brian Viloria
Gonzalez defends his lineal flyweight championship against Viloria, a formidable flyweight who always brings his best. Gonzalez is the sport's best pressure fighter. He’s won championships in three different weight classes and is probably the best fighter in the world in any weight class right now. Viloria was once the best flyweight on the planet. Those days have passed, but he’s still a proud action fighter with aspirations of reclaiming his throne.
Luis Ortiz vs. Matias Ariel Vidondo
Ortiz faces Vidondo in a heavyweight bout that will help shape the division's future. While Ortiz is 36 years old, the undefeated Cuban defector has high-class skills and a big punch. He’s a big southpaw who can at least become a contender in an increasingly interesting heavyweight division.
Vidondo hasn’t fought anyone of Ortiz’s caliber and is simply there to let Ortiz showcase his skills for the HBO audience. But every heavyweight can punch, so Vidondo at least has a puncher’s chance.
Tureano Johnson vs. Eamonn O’Kane
Johnson has become the likeable, sympathetic hero of the middleweight division. He was clearly beating Curtis Stevens in 2013 when the fight was halted in the final round in what was probably a way-too-early stoppage. He’s also one of the most engaging fighters on social media, offering career insights and boxing stories for just about anyone who comes his way.
Meanwhile, O’Kane is a fringe-level fighter who doesn’t really stand a chance. A boxer like Tureano should have no problem in defeating him and auditioning for a crack at the main event’s winner.
Odds and Where to Watch
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Odds (per Odds Shark on October 13, 2015)
- Golovkin (-1650)
- Lemieux (+1300)
Where to Watch
Date: Saturday, Oct. 17
Venue: Madison Square Garden; New York
Tickets: $50-$500 from various ticket sites
Television: HBO PPV for $49 (standard definition) or $59 (high definition) beginning at 9 p.m. ET
Prediction
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Golovkin is the real deal. He was a stalwart amateur and has absolutely demolished everything in his path as a professional. Here’s the scary thing: He seems to just keep getting better.
Look, it’s one thing to go on a 20-fight win streak at the beginning of a career when promoters and managers are lining up hapless pugs by the bushel to get their guy in the game, but it’s entirely different to be doing that in big-money fights on HBO. Even if Golovkin’s competition hasn’t been as good as it could be in a perfect world, the guys he’s been knocking out with ease are good fighters.
He’s a beast.
Lemieux is a solid middleweight. He’s tough, brave and a great offensive fighter. But he’s no match for Golovkin. GGG has everything he has and more. Expect Golovkin to break Lemieux down round by round until he ultimately stops him toward the latter rounds in a one-sided beatdown.
Golovkin takes his opponent’s best shots in the early rounds and then drops Lemieux multiple times late to win by Round 9 TKO.
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