Gennady Golovking is set to take on David Lemieux this coming Oct. 17 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, a title unification bout that should prove to be interesting.
Golovkin (33-0, with 33 KOs) will see if he can continue his rampaging run against an equally dangerous adversary in Lemieux (34-2 31 by KO). Lemieux is of course entering this one as an underdog but it seems that the 26-year-old Canadian boxer is unfazed with the odds.
“I’m ready. It’s now or never. He’s at his best. I’m getting to my best. We took a big step, and we’re ready for it,” Lemieux said during a conference call. “The numbers speak for themselves. Everybody understands the gravity of this fight. I think people are going to be surprised with what I bring to the table.”
It is not difficult to see why Golovkin is an odd-on pick for this one. He has decimated past opponents owing to his untarnished record highlighted mostly by overpowering knockouts. But despite where he is right now, Triple G is approaching the fight cautiously.
“This is going to be like a street fight. He has a good style – almost like amateur style,” Golovkin said. “I will beat any style – amateur style or brawl style. He will be a good test for me.”
Apparently, Lemieux will try to use his wits to outthink Golovkin and such could be a wise choice. Perhaps something like taking a page out of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s book of defensive tricks would help a lot.
Speaking of Mayweather, it seems that Golovkin is setting his sights on the undefeated American boxer. But as everyone knows, Mayweather has announced his retirement though a small window of hope on a possible return bout exists. And if ever that happens, it could be a hand-picked opponent that will return a lucrative return.
Through TMZ Sports, Triple G was thrown an interesting question on how he would feel if Mayweather would be his next opponent.
"I hope...I'm ready for him."
With Mayweather still standing pat on his retirement, who else could he face? How about Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao?
"I think it's impossible," the current WBA (super) and IBO middleweight champion replied. "Manny's too small."
Of course before thinking ahead, Golovkin would be wise to take care of Lemieux first and then think of his next opponent. He would do well to avoid the same predicament that cost Lucas Matthysse a crucial win that would have set him up against Pacquiao possibly in 2016.
Matthysse got KO’d in the 10th round of his fight against Viktor Postol, something that saw him spiralling back to reality if not farther from new heights.
That is perhaps the last thing that Golovkin would want to happen, especially considering he has been simply dominating. Despite being the heavy favorite, Lemieux is certainly someone he cannot take for granted.