Fight Club: Big fights belatedly on the way for Gennady Golovkin

Andy Lewis 13:32 27/07/2015
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  • The undefeated Golovkin in action.

    It might have been a triumphant Sergey Kovalev in the ring on Saturday night but it was another eastern European fighter with a greater cause to celebrate.

    From being potentially the most avoided man in boxing, Gennady Golovkin’s next 12 months are suddenly looking quite exciting.

    Somewhere around the time Kovalev was busy rearranging Nadjib Mohammedi’s face, it was announced that a deal had been struck for Golovkin to face Canada’s David Lemieux at Madison Square Garden on October 17.

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    It’s a fight that has already got the boxing world abuzz with it pitting two of the sport’s most destructive, aggressive and fan-friendly fighters.

    Both Golovkin and Lemieux can deliver stunning one punch knockouts and only look to fight on the front foot. Putting them together guarantees fireworks – 61 of their combined 69 fights have ended with a KO victory.

    The 33-year-old Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) has knocked out 20 opponents on the bounce and owns the WBA and IBO middleweight titles.

    The 26-year-old Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) dropped Hassan N’Dam four times in June on his way to a unanimous decision and picking up the IBF belt.

    Golovkin has long talked about unifying the division and now he has the chance to add one more strap to his collection.

    A confident Lemieux has other ideas, however, and summed up why fight fans are so thrilled when he said: “This is the fight that all the fans and the world wants to see. I hope and expect this will be the best fight of the last five years. There will be blood. It’s going to be exciting.”

    Aside from unifying a big chunk of the 160lb division, this bout is significant for both men for various other reasons. For one, it will be the first time either has headlined a pay-per-view card in the US.

    And with the WBC recently awarding Golovkin their ‘interim’ title, whoever triumphs will emerge as mandatory challenger to the winner between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and full WBC champ Miguel Cotto, who are expected to announce a date for their fight in the coming days.

    The good news didn’t stop there for Golovkin, though, as evidence of Andre Ward’s eagerness to face him arrived by way of Kovalev’s manager, Kathy Duva.

    Duva said they had approached Ward about making a fight with Russia’s light-heavyweight world champion, but the team of the super middleweight king Ward had rebuffed them, saying they were focused on building towards a fight with Golovkin.

    That logic adds up. Ward likes to give himself every possible physical advantage – ask Chad Dawson – and he would have none against Kovalev. With the paydays being comparable, you can be sure he’d rather face the smaller man in Triple G.

    And while Golovkin’s prospects suddenly look a lot brighter, sadly, it’s not such positive news for Kovalev, with ‘Krusher’ struggling badly for opponents.

    That led to him defending his three versions of the 175lb title against a hopelessly overmatched Mohammedi, who was absolutely destroyed inside three rounds.

    The middleweight division finally looks to be coming together with some meaningful bouts but the situation at light heavyweight remains depressing.

    Kovalev holds the WBA, WBO and IBF titles; Adonis Stevenson has the WBC crown. One fight would unify the division but it won’t happen as Kovalev has an exclusive contract with HBO, while Stevenson is with Al Haymon’s PBC brand. The two sides aren’t doing business.

    Kovalev’s fellow Russian, Artur Beterbiev – a man who beat him in the amateurs – has also been talked about but, again, he is with Haymon. Kovalev is expected back in action on November 28 in a Moscow homecoming. It could be quite a short one if it’s just another Mohammedi across the ring.

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