IF Gennady Golovkin beats David Lemieux on October 17, to unify the WBA and IBF middleweight crowns, the clamour for him to take on the winner of the Miguel Cotto-Saul Alvarez WBC title fight will only grow.
Golovkin himself said, “It doesn’t matter and I don’t think about it. For me? Whoever is number one. I want all of the belts in the middleweight division and I will fight whoever is number one and it doesn’t matter who it is. I don’t like business. I like old school – who is number one?”
Lemieux is a hard hitter, he might even have the power to rival Golovkin. Although the Kazakh does appear to be the complete package. “I thank my parents for my strong chin. Lemieux will be a test for my chin. But it’s not just my chin. It is distance and discipline, timing and style,” Gennady said. “I am a regular guy. I am a regular man. [The power] also comes from my parents. This is boxing. It’s not just because I have power. Power comes from every step, timing, it’s the style where every second is important and I give credit to Abel Sanchez and my team.
“Every fight is different and every fight is difficult. This is a big step, but first it is a big test and everyone understands that this step is much bigger.”
Though Lemieux has lost in the past, Golovkin doesn’t believe that their contest is a foregone conclusion. “He feels like a champion and this is a unification fight. I think he is ready for a unification fight and he understands the situation. He is smarter now because of his experience in his recent fights,” the Kazakh said. “Right now he feels better because he has a stronger team. He gets to talk with Oscar [De La Hoya, his promoter] and Bernard [Hopkins]. Bernard tells him, I remember my fight at Madison Square Garden against Tito [Trinidad]. Right now he is acting like a star – I see the videos – and of course he is a star.
“This is going to be like a street fight. He has a good style – almost like amateur style. I will beat any style – amateur style or brawl style. He will be a good test for me.”
