Lemieux Ready For Shot At Golovkin’s Title

The North American Press Tour for the Gennady Golovkin vs David Lemieux contest on October 17 at Madison Square Garden will launch the path to determining who is the Middleweight Champion, period. GGG holds the WBC interim, WBA Super, and IBO middleweight titles. He has been trying to get the attention of the elite players in the division. Finally, someone has stepped up.

David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KO’s), the IBF middleweight titleholder, won his strap in his last fight, by capturing the vacant title via 12-round decision over Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam in Quebec, Canada this past June. He has wanted this moment since childhood, yet is quite practical and level headed. “I’m not a big dreamer, I’m a realist,” Lemieux said. “I work hard for what I do. I have had this feeling since I was twelve years old. My teacher asked me what I want to be? I said a world champion.” When David’s teacher asked about an alternative plan in case it didn’t pan out, he responded, “No. I don’t have a plan B. So here I am today.”

Golovkin (33-0, 30 KO’s), has been champion since 2010 when he annexed the WBA interim championship by knocking out Milton Nunez in one round. He has since defended the honor 14 times, all knockouts, while claiming the outright WBA title, IBO, and the WBC interim title. For Gennady, it’s the first of the fights he has been searching for as he has challenged the other titleholders over the last couple of years. “I like his style. He’s strong, very dedicated guy, it’s true,” Golovkin said. “He’s very easy to spot. It’s going to not be good for me but for all the fans.” Bernard Hopkins, representing Golden Boy Boxing, is a fan of GGG, yet is fully behind his client, Lemieux. He likes what the future holds in the division that Hopkins used to build his legend. “I can say proudly that the middleweight division has been left in great hands,” Hopkins shared. “I don’t see it going the distance. When you deal with firepower, you know it’s going to be fireworks.”

The announcement that the most expensive seats are set for $500 dollars is literally a gift for boxing fans. But it doesn’t stop there. The fans get to see a 160 pound war in the making and the winner was announced as being committed to fighting the winner of Miguel Cotto vs Canelo Alvarez for the WBC undisputed belt. Suddenly the middleweights take front and center again. “A lot of you are going to have to be ready for change,” Lemieux warned. “Changing the pattern, that’s what’s fascinating about boxing.”