Golovkin dominates Lemieux to unify middleweight titles

 

MANILA, Philippines – Gennady Golovkin continues his reign as the most dominant fighter in the middleweight division by thumping Canadian boxer David Lemieux on Sunday, October 18 (October 17 in U.S.) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

 

The 33-year-old Kazakhstani slugger finished the job in the eighth round, as Golovkin swarmed Lemieux with a thunderous flurry to compel referee Steve Willis to halt the scheduled 12-round contest at the 1:32 mark. 

 

With the knockout victory over Lemieux, Golovkin (34-0, 31 knockouts) unified the IBF and WBA middleweight titles.

 

In addition, Golovkin extended his knockout streak to 25, which was established in February 2008 when he defeated Tshepo Mashego in the first round.

 

On the other hand, Lemieux dropped to 34-3 (31 KOs) after having a 9-match victory parade. 

 

“Dave is a very good fighter. A strong fighter. I can box him, too. I’m a boxer, too,” Golovkin said of Lemieux in the post-fight interview.

 

Lemieux was an easy target for Golovkin from the get-go as the Kazakh’s flicker jabs dictated the flow of the entire bout and disrupted the rhythm of Lemieux’s offense. 

 

Golovkin hammered 106 punches to his counterpart’s 27 through 3 rounds and was able score his first knockdown of the fight in the fifth frame with a vicious body shot, but he was lucky to not be penalized for a late hit on Lemieux. 

 

As Lemieux staggered to one knee, Golovkin delivered a right cross and immediately apologized to Lemieux.

 

Gennady Golovkin drops David Lemieux in round 5, then hits him when he’s down #GGGLemieux pic.twitter.com/yVIKNKFm4G

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) October 18, 2015

 

 

After 6 grueling rounds, it appeared that the referee was considering of stepping in as Lemieux was continually pummeled by Golovkin’s left jab to set up his powerful right hand and being smothered with vicious left-right combinations. 

 

Having received a warning from the referee that he would stop the fight if Lemieux didn’t show more competitiveness, Lemieux persisted and showed heart in the seventh round as he launched a triple jab and tagged Golovkin with his lead right. 

 

As Lemieux clobbered a hard left and right hooks to the body, Golovkin responded with a right hand that made the Canadian’s legs wobbly as he went back to his corner.

 

“I’ll meet him in the near future. I’ll keep my mouth shut tonight. But I’ll see him in the future,” Lemieux optimistically stated after being stopped in round 8.

The stoppage at 1:32 of round 8, Gennady Golovkin knocks out David Lemieux #boxing pic.twitter.com/jMA3SE1lY4

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) October 18, 2015

 

According to CompuBox statistics, Golovkin connected 58% of his punches compared to Lemieux’s 27 percent.

 

“I told you this was a very important fight,” Golovkin expressed. “I give my fans and friends a big show. Thank you my fans. Thank you my people.” 

 

With the executioner’s smile and the brutal mean streak inside the squared-circle, a bright future awaits Golovkin as he could face the winner of the blockbuster bout between Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

 

The other option in his list is Tureano Johnson, who is now considered the IBF mandatory middleweight title challenger following a unanimous decision win over Eamonn O’Kane on the Golovkin-Lemieux undercard. 

 

 (READ: Roman Gonzalez stops Brian Viloria in round 9)

 

Earlier on the fight card, Roman Gonzalez outclassed Fiipino-American fighter Brian Viloria in 9 rounds to retain the WBC flyweight strap. – Rappler.com