By Victor Salazar
While it could be debated as to whether or not the middleweight unification between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux belonged on a pay-per-view platform, there was no debating the atmosphere that was generated with a sold out crowd of 20,458 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The crowd was at near capacity during the co-main event between Roman Gonzalez and Brian Viloria - and their reaction to the action was electric. It only picked up when the main event followed.
Though it wasn’t Hagler-Hearns, Golovkin showed facets of his arsenal controlling Lemiuex with his power jab and keeping the dangerous puncher at a distance. Golovkin connected with a deadly bodyshot to force Lemiuex to take a knee in the fifth and then secured a stoppage victory in the eight. The victory kept knockout streak alive at 21.
Lemieux’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya says Triple G’s performance surprised him.
“I was surprised but credit to Triple G,” De La Hoya said this past weekend. “Golovkin threw a great jab. The key for Lemiuex was to throw a left jab, Triple G knew how to use his distance, and he threw his long strong jab and kept his distance well.”
So is Golovkin more than just a power puncher? De La Hoya is still skeptical
“Look he showed and proved a lot today but it’s mostly power. He did a wonderful fight.”
Though Golovkin performance was good, De La Hoya was more impressed by the flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez.
“Golovkin was not perfection,” stated De La Hoya. “You’re talking to a fighter who’s seen a lot of styles and fought everyone. Perfection was Chocolatito. But Triple G did well. ‘Chocolatito’ is my favorite fighter today right now. Right behind him is Luis Ortiz. For a heavyweight he looked a lot better than a lot of junior middleweights.”
