Photo by Marilyn Paulino
The sweat still glistened freshly on the canvas last night in Montreal, where David Lemieux had just defeated the incredibly resilient Hassan N’Dam, when thoughts quickly turned to what is next for the Canadian basher. It should be simple–it’s time for Gennady Golovkin.
Lemieux did everything in his power last night to get N’Dam out of the ring early, dropping him four times with monster left hooks. But N’Dam, as he proved against Peter Quillin, is no easy out. He gets up, shakes off the cobwebs, and punches his way out of danger. But Lemieux was undeterred. He’s a knockout machine, and he makes no effort to hide his plan–seek and destroy.
N’Dam is a solid boxer, but Lemieux cuts off the ring well, and he leads with nasty hooks and straight right hands. So it wasn’t terribly surprising that he won the fight. But he also proved that he’s got endurance and the stamina to go the full 12 rounds against an upper-level opponent, something we weren’t quite sure of before. And while he won’t be gracefully gliding across the ring, throwing 15 punch flurries and then slipping out of harm’s way anytime soon, he’s effective as hell with what he does–Hulk Smash everything in his path.
You know who else is really good at breaking shit? Gennady Golovkin. And he’s just itching for a big fight after gashing through a host of B level fighters like a machete through warm butter. Lemieux is a massive draw in Canada, and Golovkin is slowly becoming a superstar. And they just happen to be in the same division. They don’t have warring promoters, or advisors with questionable motives. They don’t need tune ups. And there will be no catch weight here, just violence. Lots and lots of violence.
Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images
The Middleweight division has been starving for a spark for some time. That spark will come, and probably quickly soar into explosions in the sky, should Golovkin and Lemieux face off. Miguel Cotto is the lineal champion, but he’s as much a Middleweight as Paul Smith is a dietician. Canelo might make it up to 160 soon enough, but he seems to be on a collision course with Cotto. Andy Lee, the other home run hitter at Middleweight, has a fight coming up with Billy Joe Saunders.
So it makes perfect sense for Golovkin-Lemieux to happen next. Not next year, dammit, NEXT. We’ve been itching to see Golovkin take on a top dog for years, and Lemieux’s reemergence after a couple of years building up his brand has been as aggressively timed as one of his nasty left hooks. He’s as ready as he’ll ever be for a big fight, and we know damn well Golovkin is too.
The logistics of the thing aren’t an issue, so if the fighters want it, the fight should come together quickly enough. And boxing needs it, as much as it needed the Canelo vs. James Kirkland medicine after Mayweather and Pacquiao wafted a massive cloud of ass over the entire sport. The idea of two 160 pounders with MONSTER power and an unquenchable bloodlust is just too rare. It can’t miss. The fight simply won’t fail to please the large audience that will tune in for it.
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that no other sport on the planet manages to piss all over itself when the time seems right for wonderful things to happen. Fights fall through. Promoters argue. Venues are disagreed on. Trinket, shitty belts come into play. Guys miss weight. Is it possible that a fight this exciting could come through unfettered?
Either way, we need to find out. Lemieux is still very young, and he’s really got nothing to lose here. Golovkin is considered the king of the division, lineal champ or not, so losing to the king doesn’t really hurt his career trajectory. Many guys are going to lose to that beast.
But if he wins… If he lands a grenade of a left hook that Golovkin doesn’t see coming, or wounds the seemingly indestructible Kazakh, or even if he goes out on his shield losing a breathless war, then he’s done nothing but help his career.
The winner of the fight could then take on Andy Lee to decide division supremacy. All three provide nothing but scintillating action, nothing but pure enjoyment for fans. They give everything in order to win. The three-man race should start right now. Golovkin vs. Lemieux–bring the fuckin pain. We’ll all be tuning in.
There are a lot worse ways to spend your Saturday night.
