By Steve Kim
On the night of October 17th at the famed Madison Square Garden a middleweight slugfest takes place between WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and IBF belt-holder, David Lemieux. It's a battle of two of the hardest hitting fighters on the planet. And for Abel Sanchez, the threat of Lemieux - and his lethal left hook - ensures that there will be no complacency with 'GGG'.
"Not complacency but just not as much focus because guys like this stimulate Gennady, guys like this make it interesting for Gennady, not just physically but mentally there's an element of fear, an element of the unexpected so I'm glad that it got signed not only because of the fight but because of the challenge," said Sanchez of this pairing.
Gennady has a record of 33-0 (30 knockouts) and has scored twenty consecutive stoppages. Lemieux has a mark of 34-2 and has 31 KO's to his credit.
When asked to size up Lemieux, Sanchez stated,"I think David's a little wider puncher. Gennady's a better fighter, just all-around better fighter, better amateur background, better condition, a lot more patient but David does have a very good left hook, very strong kid and he's hungry - that's dangerous."
So with that said, does Golovkin begin this fight by boxing off his back foot as Lemieux comes out winging leather as he did versus Hassan N'Dam?
''Gennady's always the boxer in the first round, he's always gone out to feel what he's got in front of him,'' said Sanchez. "If David comes out like that Gennady will use the jab a lot more and once Gennady hits him with the first stiff jab, things will change."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.