After David Lemieux had received the IBF model of the middleweight world title with a formidable battering of Hassan N’Dam in Montreal, a Lemieux vs Golovkin combat grew to become one of many extra fascinating matches to be made in a middleweight division the place a lot of the elite fighters had proven zero curiosity in dealing with the power-punching Kazakh. Nevertheless, few thought the combat would occur any time quickly; certainly it made extra sense for Lemieux to first money in and make some critical coin with a few protected title defenses. Refreshingly, Lemieux and his brain-trust determined in any other case. With Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins cheering him on, Lemieux stepped up and the ensuing buzz for Golovkin vs Lemieux was intense. Anticipating an exciting, Hagler vs Hearns kind shootout between two big punchers, combat followers sold-out Madison Sq. Backyard and seemed ahead to some thrilling motion in a yr when essentially the most excessive profile match-ups supplied treasured little.
However as an alternative of a hellacious shoot-out, we bought a methodical beatdown. Lemieux had his moments and did land some good pictures, however such moments had been few and much between and the pictures had little to no impact on Golovkin. The hole in talent between the 2 males proved decisive; Golovkin has far better expertise, each newbie {and professional}, and it confirmed proper from the opening bell because the Kazakh imposed his will behind a tough left jab and his typical glorious foot work. Lemieux had no reply to the jab, which proved extremely correct, and he merely couldn’t discover his vary or rhythm. Golovkin set the phrases and maintained management for nearly your complete match whereas Lemieux struggled to ascertain any form of efficient assault.
Energy alone was Lemieux’s solely hope, however when he did land strong pictures the blows appeared to have little impact and solely earned him extra punishment in return. A vicious left hook to the liver in spherical 5 compelled Lemieux to take a knee and when he went down Golovkin clocked him with a proper hand. Some extent deduction would have been totally acceptable however the referee settled for a warning. Credit score to Lemieux for not instantly pitching to his face and forcing the referee’s hand; many fighters in the identical scenario would have performed so.
Spherical six noticed Lemieux’s only work although he nonetheless misplaced the spherical. He landed some good pictures to each physique and head however Golovkin took them after which got here proper again along with his personal punches. In spherical seven the match grew to become decidedly one-sided and referee Steve Willis appeared more and more involved for Lemieux’s welfare. When one other onerous left hook to the liver virtually knocked Lemieux down in spherical eight, the referee stepped in and declared Golovkin the winner.
Whereas the result was clearly significantly disappointing for Lemieux and his workforce, all needed to tip their hat and provides large props to David for taking the match. It can’t be stated too usually in twenty first century pugilism: most boxers in his place would have opted for some simple paydays as an alternative of taking the massive danger and dealing with essentially the most harmful opposition out there. The game wants extra boxers with Lemieux’s braveness and need to compete.
That stated, the one-sided nature of the competition left Lemieux with little by way of large fights and massive cash to look ahead to. There was zero curiosity in a rematch, although Lemieux, clearly sad with the stoppage, let or not it’s recognized he wished one. As a substitute it appeared doubtless the Montrealer must bide his time with a combat or two in opposition to a few of Golovkin’s leftovers. Victories over Glen Tapia, Curtis Stevens, and Marcos Reyes did result in a shot at Billy Joe Saunders’ WBO title belt however that proved to be a somewhat humiliating and one-sided defeat, with some scoring it a shut-out for the person from Hertfordshire.
In the meantime Golovkin needed to wait virtually two years earlier than his division rival, Canelo Alvarez, lastly labored up the nerve to face him. The end result was a transparent win for Gennady that was in some way scored a draw, however everyone knows that facet of the story and what adopted. The underside line is that Lemieux demonstrated extra nerve and confidence than so many others within the middleweight division who as an alternative shamelessly swerved the Kazakh destroyer. Generally in boxing, you will be too good on your personal good. Such was the case for Gennady Golovkin, but it surely shouldn’t be held in opposition to him. He deserves to be thought to be a twenty first century nice, one who might have held his personal in opposition to just about any middleweight or tremendous middleweight in boxing historical past. — Robert Portis
