Is Gennady “GGG” Golovkin Truly Afraid of David Lemieux?

By Simon “Says” Traversy

Introduction
Once upon a time before the Givens, the Kings, The Washingtons, the hangers-on, the yesmen slash sycophantic suck-ups, and the laqueys, there was Iron Mike Tyson. Tyson became ‘’ Iron Mike’’ after Tyson’s mentor, Cus D’Amato, had made a hurtful remark about Tyson’s short stature. From that point on, the moniker stayed with him until this very day. He had a few more before and during (Tanned Terror, Mighty Mike, Kid Dynamite) but Iron Mike is the one that fans and non-fans alike will always remember. That one and “The Baddest Man of the Planet”.

Ruling with an Iron Fist

When Tyson’s opponents looked at Tyson during the stare-downs, their non-verbal gestures and mannerisms spoke volumes. Of course, in his first year (1985) as a pro, Tyson’s mentor was wise to match him against C-level fighters on top of making his protégé fight every two weeks to quickly build his résumé. When Tyson started knocking on the door of contendership in 1986, the level of competition became better. His mentor had passed, but Tyson was on a mission to fulfill his mentor’s prophecy. On November 22nd 1986, Tyson made quick work of the outmatched and overwhelmed WBC champion Trevor Berbick. At only 20 years old, Tyson became the youngest boxer to ever win the heavyweight title, a record which still stands to this day and a record previously held by yet another former D’Amato-trained protégé, Floyd Patterson (yes, match-making is an art per se in boxing). Tyson continued to wreck havoc everywhere he went. He respectively won the WBA title from James ‘’Bonecrusher’’ Smith in March 1987, the IBF from Tony Tucker in August 1987, and in 1988, Tyson steam-rolled over Michael Spinks in only 91 seconds, earning him the symbolic The Ring Magazine belt.

More Than Meets the Eye

At the pinnacle of his career, Mike Tyson sported a record of 35-0-0 with 30 knockouts; 19 of which came in the first round. Even before he became the youngest heavyweight to ever win a championship, Tyson was already wrongfully labelled as a puncher by casual fans and naysayers. I say ‘’wrongfully’’ because Tyson was far more than just a mere unpolished slugger. Besides his great punching power, Tyson was also quick and accurate, as graceful as he was destructive, he proved to be both a great body and combination puncher, and his defense was impeccable.

Fear Factor

However it’s not hard to overlook everything else when a man scares the bejesus out of you. As Tyson was wrongfully labelled a mere slugger, he also simultaneously created an aura of fear around himself which he projected onto his opponents (and then some) wherever he went. This greatly played to Tyson’s advantage as it paralyzed his opponents with fear and consequently threw them off their game plans.

Busted by Buster

And then along came James ‘’ Buster’’ Douglas. On paper, there was absolutely no reason to believe that Tyson wasn’t going to make quick work of Douglas. For that very reason, Douglas was a 42-1 underdog coming into that fight. In terms of morphology, fighting style and temperament, Douglas came in a similar mold as Tyrrell Biggs, Reggie Gross, Mitch Green, Tony Tucker and James Tillis, all boxers whom Tyson had beaten convincingly for the most part. However had it been possible to borrow Doc Brown’s DeLorean and send Marty McFly back in time with a copy of Tyson’s autobiography, I’m pretty sure the odds would’ve changed in Douglas’ favour. In a nutshell, while a heavy-hearted Douglas was still licking his wounds from his mother’s passing by training hard in the gym, the bulk of Tyson’s training consisted of ‘’loving’ one (or several) Japanese maids after the other… ‘’long time’’ of course.

But Tyson’s conditioning, motivation or discipline weren’t the only things missing that night; the change of management and the change of fighting style two years earlier demoted him from the pressure-sluggin’, volume counterpuncher that he once was, to a mere brawler. From that point on, ‘’Iron Mike’’ was never the same fighter again. Yes, Douglas got a count that far exceeded 10 seconds, but poetic justice (AKA Karma) prevailed and Douglas ended up knockout Tyson out two rounds later. The aura of invincibility was gone, Tyson was but a man and thus could be beaten. Confidence as they say, is a fighter’s biggest asset.

Now let’s translate this anecdote to the most anticipated fight of the present year.

Good Boy
Gennady Golovkin and his two ex-Soviet comrades Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev also seem to be sharing the same fear factor card and aura of invincibility as Mike Tyson once did. Rival fighters avoid them like the plague and for good reason: nobody ever beat them as professionals and only a handful managed to make it to the final round. Golovkin quickly become boxing’s new sensation, again for good reason: as destructive and seemingly merciless as he may be inside the ring, you could hardly tell he was a boxer outside of it. With his good manners, baby face and trademark boyish smile, it would be easier to picture him as a choir boy than a fighting machine. God forbid, but I’d pay some serious money to see him getting mugged in a parking lot by two unsuspecting idiots who thought they were dealing with a wimpy geek.
*Smirking
‘’ Hey ass-butts! I like (to) fight! BANG! POW! WOW! ‘’

Haters Hate

Of course as exciting and classy as you may be, that will still never be enough to quiet the haters; especially those who root for the very same fighters who avoid Golovkin like the plague. I’ve read countless times on forums that Golovkin has faced only bums so far. Personally I don’t think that Gabriel Rosado, Marco Antonio Rubio, Daniel Geale or Curtis Stevens would personally appreciate that classification. Feared or not, it is true that Golovkin has never faced an elite fighter to this day; but that’s all about to change on October 17th.

David the Better

David Lemieux (which stands for ‘’the better’’) will prove to be Golovkin’s greatest test so far. Likewise Golovkin will prove to be Lemieux’s greatest challenge as well. Both men can punch a hole through a brick wall, both fighters possess a hybrid Marciano-Frazier- esque pressure-slugging style, both men possess underrated offensive skills and overlooked defensive skills. However, like Golovkin, Lemieux has never beaten a household name and he never fought outside of Montreal with the exception of his win over Gabriel Rosado. With a victory over Golovkin, narrowly or by a mile, Lemieux would establish himself as one of the best middleweights of the present time. As for Golovkin, a win over Lemieux (or vice versa) would silence a few more haters as he moves forward to take on the winner of the Cotto-Alvarez fight and a far larger payday

David the Worst

Golovkin may hold the highest KO ratio in middleweight history with 91%, but Lemieux isn’t trailing far behind. In fact, hadn’t it been for his two bogus losses, he would probably be ahead of him. I say ‘’bogus’’ because at the time of his two defeats at the hands of respectively Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine, Lemieux was Livin’ la Vida Loca, chasing skirts, drinks and parties in a similar fashion as Tyson used to once Don King swooped in to take the leash off his neck. Therefore the losses Lemieux suffered were in no way representative of his true talent. If a rematch were to occur between Lemieux and Rubio now, I’d take a personal loan from the bank, call Vegas and gamble it all on Lemieux. Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, Lemieux’s lack of discipline and dedication cost him his long-time trainer and Rival CEO/ President Russ Anber. Anber, who failed to talk any sense in the loose cannon Lemieux was becoming, preferred to leave on his own terms rather than to see his young protégé whom he had trained since childhood, self-destruct. By the time of the Alcine fight, Anber had already called the quits. Lemieux and Anber nonetheless left on good terms and since their split in 2011, Lemieux has been trained by Marc Ramsey. Lemieux genuinely seems to have straightened up his act and to be back on track.

Ax Aequo

The match-up is interesting for many reasons, but let’s name the most relevant ones:
1) When was the last time a middleweight championship has taken place between two champions known primarily to be punchers?
2) Both fighters see this fight as an opportunity to quiet the naysayers and prove to the boxing world that they really belong with the elite.
3) Both fighters come to fight every time so you know you won’t be taken to prom night, a marathon, or a group seminar on how to cure insomnia.
4) Both fighters happen to be evenly-matched in terms of height, weight (come fight night), punching power, ring IQ, stamina, speed and defense.

A Toast to the Victor: C(h)in! C(h)in!

There’s only one factor however which I personally have to hand to Golovkin and that’s durability. A lot of ink has been spilled about both fighters’ punching power, yet that factor alone only tells half the story of the fight to come. I’ve mentioned that both fighters possessed underrated defense. If you saw the YouTube video entitled ‘’ Evasive Aggression’’, it is clear that Golovkin has quite a few defensive tricks up his sleeve. You see him at times doing what’s called a strategic retreat, followed by a fist bump to keep his opponent from charging in. You can also see him counterpunch, roll his shoulder and trap his opponent’s glove to punch with his free hand. As for Lemieux, he proudly and openly claims that his offense is his defense and just like Joe Frazier, when you fight Lemieux, he’ll stick to you like glue and hammer away until you aren’t vertical anymore.But let’s face it: defense isn’t what either boxer’s fight strategy is based on. Now what does that mean in plain English? It means that both fighters are bound to be nailed solidly by one another at some point. Now, how each fighter will react to the power of the other will most likely dictate who the victor will be. Therefore durability is an absolute must.

Hagler-Hearns Hollywood Remake

Again, neither fighter should be labelled as a mere slugger. Yet it’s definitely their dominant variable, there’s no doubt about it. One punch is all it takes to call it a night. Therefore in the light of that reality and in the interest of self-preservation, it would be unwise for either fighter too much time studying one another. I expect both fighters to come out swinging early in the fight and I wouldn’t be surprised if Lemieux was the one to draw first to chase the butterflies away and show Golovkin that he’s not at a picnic on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Even if the levity was good at the press conference a few days ago and even if both fighters seem to respect each other, I expect earthquakes no later than in the opening round.

The Fear of GGG

Golovkin mentioned that he was perhaps a bit afraid of Lemieux. Many would say that he ought to be; I mean, GGG has never faced an opponent like Lemieux before and like I said, those two loses Lemieux suffered were hiccups based on lack of conditioning, discipline, and maturity. Personally I didn’t buy much into Golovkin’s claim (neither did Lemieux judging by his reaction). I wouldn’t say that Golovkin lied. Maybe he just said what he said due to his limited command of English (although he’s getting better every interview). Then maybe he is genuinely slightly afraid of Lemieux. If Golovkin loses especially before the limit, his aura of invincibility will be gone, for Lemieux will have demystified Golovkin the very same way Douglas demystified Tyson in Tokyo back in 1990. If Lemieux loses, it won’t hurt him as much as it would hurt Golovkin. Lemieux lost twice already not to mention that he’s not favored to win anyways. He’ll go back to the drawing board and move on to the next opponent. Or, maybe Golovkin is using some good old Sun Tzu psychological warfare to give Lemieux a false sense of hope, praying that somehow he doesn’t train as hard and as diligently as he should. After all, Lemieux has been known to take fights lightly in the past and perhaps Golovkin is trying to bring back those old bad habits even if Lemieux vowed that those days were over.

Who knows, right?

I guess we’ll find out in two months. In any case, Simon says : that’s a pay-per-view worth buying.

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