Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
No doubt this is the biggest fight in the career Canadian-born fighter, David Lemieux. After a sensational performance and victory over Hassan N’Dam this summer, Lemieux returns to the ring to seize an opportunity to blemish the record of rising and undefeated middleweight star, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.
It practically goes without saying that as the most important fight of Lemieux’s career, the rewards of beating Golovkin in this fight will be tremendous in terms of exposure, status in the middleweight division, and respect from the entire boxing community.
The question is, can Lemieux pull if off? With so much on the line, here are three critical things he must do to score a victory.
1. The Jab
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This first key is mostly wishful thinking, but still important. Lemieux is not much of a jabber, which is a shame because the jab is one of the easiest punches to catch Gennady Golovkin with. Lemieux needs to settle a pressure fighter like Golovkin as quickly as possible, and one way to do so is by using the jab.
As Lemieux should understand, being a pressure fighter himself, such a fighter will continue to come forward if his opponent retreats, produces too much movement, and/or doesn’t throw enough punches. While Lemieux has the most confidence in his power, he also needs to focus on setting up his power punches in the most strategic way.
It’s also critical that Lemieux use the jab to establish his distance early on in the fight. He can’t just leap in and throw ripping shots on Golovkin without sacrificing his defense and thus, himself. He must use the jab to make Golovkin second-guess his approach and, when the timing is right, unleash devastating blows.
2. Back Golovkin Up
Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
One of the easiest ways to take away Gennady Golovkin’s confidence is to make him fight going backwards–repeatedly. As great as Golovkin looks coming forward, one of his weaknesses is his inability to fight going backwards. You don’t find a large number of fighters who can, but it certainly is an asset when facing another pressure fighter.
I’ve seen Golovkin look uncomfortable going back when he was tagged with several effective shots. The reason why he was able to keep coming forward is because his opponents lacked follow-through. On the other hand, we’ve seen Lemieux throw ripping combinations and continue to come forward relentlessly.
If he can do this in the right moments with Golovkin, he can have a real shot at testing his chin and at the very least, position himself more favorably on the scorecards.
3. Close the distance
Photo by Vincent Ethier
While it may seem that the closer one is to Gennady Golovkin, the more dangerous his position (and it can be), Golovkin is actually the most confident and dangerous in mid-range. At this range he can completely extend his punches, especially his right hand and lead hook, and express his punching power to the full extent.
Allowing Golovkin to have optimum distance to land his punches is a huge mistake. Besides tagging Golovkin on the outside, Lemieux should consider getting him to work closely on the inside. I wouldn’t say Golovkin is uncomfortable on the inside, but it’s definitely not his bread-and-butter.
Fortunately, Lemieux doesn’t mind being on the inside and it may work to his advantage. If he can smother Golovkin’s distance, he can take away at least one factor that helps his opponent land such powerful shots. He’ll also be successful in diminishing Golovkin’s confidence by making him feel like he isn’t fighting the fight he wants to.
Header photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
