Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s) and David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KO’s) will collide in a hotly-anticipated middleweight unification match at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 17th.
WBA Super champ Golovkin and IBF holder Lemieux share a comparable knockout percentage at 91 and 86 percent, respectively, which has prompted fans to scramble for tickets in record time to witness what is sure to be a violent affair for as long as it lasts.
The power of both men is unquestionable, but Golovkin appears the more durable of the two. He has never looked close to being hurt and taken plenty of clean shots to get him there, whereas Lemieux has been stopped once in seven rounds by Marco Antonio Rubio, a man who wilted quickly against Golovkin last October.
However, everyone is allowed an off night, and that could well have been Lemieux’s. He will arrive at the biggest fight of his career with eight KO’s from nine straight wins, and at just 26 years old, could well harness the exuberance of youth to his advantage.
Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez feels that will be unlikely, though, and predicted a swift win for his man when giving a brief breakdown of the fight to Sky Sports.
“I think that both guys at the beginning will be aware of each other.” he said.
“I think by the time the second round comes around, I think Golovkin will have established his jab and will be pot-shotting Lemieux.”
“In the third round, I think they have a good round between the both of them and in the fourth round Golovkin knocks him out.”
Golovkin tends to make his challengers unfit for action between three and eight rounds, making Sanchez’s prediction probable based on past results.
Despite only a single knockout loss, there are questions regarding Lemieux’ sturdiness, and he has only recently risen again to world level last year by beating Gabriel Rosado. His chin wasn’t checked there or by Hassan N’Dam who he beat for the belt in June.
We don’t know if the Rubio loss was an outlier or a terrible crack hastily coated over, and there is no better man to test that area than Golovkin.
