By Thomas Gerbasi
“Right now, I’m feeding strawberries to my daughter.”
As if you needed another reason why David Lemieux isn’t like the other prizefighters, you’ve got one. The 26-year-old IBF middleweight champion isn’t in a crowded gym or stuck in traffic while conducting interviews to promote his Saturday unification bout with Gennady Golovkin. He’s with his three-year-old, as well behaved as a three-year-old can be, no doubt a result of a steady diet of strawberries, and Dad couldn’t be more content.
That doesn’t mean he’s distracted by the task awaiting him in New York City.
“I train twice a day, I take care of my daughter, I speak to my son regularly, and even if I’m home, I’m in camp, doing work until fight night.”
It’s been a lifetime leading up to this defining fight of his life, but Lemieux couldn’t be more calm. It’s almost as if he knows something we don’t, that the invincible Golovkin can be beaten and he’s the one carrying Superman’s kryptonite in his gloves.
“A lot of people are seeing Golovkin, and yeah, he’s a great fighter, but I didn’t see why they’re so scared of him,” Lemieux said. “I always knew I was going to fight Golovkin down the line; it was just a matter of time. Then as soon as I got the belt, we got the offer and we accepted. I was very happy with the reaction of the people, and I think everybody wants to see this fight. It’s a win for everybody.”
It certainly is for the promoters of the bout, who will see a packed house at Madison Square Garden, and for the fans who are getting to see that rarity of rarities these days – two top-level fighters willing to put everything on the line against each other.
And when it comes to those fighters, Golovkin, a heavy favorite, has already made a statement with the MSG sellout. If he wins big and does good numbers on pay-per-view, he will have told the big names that have avoided him for years that they can’t avoid him anymore, that the reward may now at least be closing in on the risk.
Lemieux’ upside can be just as high, simply by beating the unbeaten GGG. But his insistence on taking the fight has brought words equally expressing praise and bewilderment. Why him and no one else? It’s not just an indictment of the boxing business that we are amazed by big names willing to compete in big fights, but that this particular rising star has chosen to do so.
Blessed with fight-ending power, an action-packed style, and Hollywood looks, Montreal’s Lemieux could have conceivably stayed north of the border and fought anyone not named Golovkin and made plenty of money in his native Canada. Yeah, he’s that big and Canadians support their fighters.
“The recognition over the years has been tremendous, especially over the last few fights, and especially in the fight against (Gabriel) Rosado when I fought in New York and all the fans were watching it on the big screen at the Bell Centre (in Montreal),” he said. “I got a lot of great exposure going with Golden Boy (Promotions) and being with Eye of the Tiger, and it’s putting me up there. Has it surprised me? No, I always knew I was going to reach this level sooner or later, but I keep both feet on the ground and I keep working hard.”
Lemieux brings a nine-fight winning streak into Saturday’s bout, seven of those victories coming by knockout, and though the lone defeats of his career to Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine have raised some red flags, they were four years ago and he has since settled in with coach Marc Ramsay and matured in his attack enough to the point where he can be considered world-class.
But has he matured enough? Lemieux loves a shootout, and Golovkin’s sharpshooting can end a brawler’s night in a hurry. Then again, the Canadian is always one punch away from changing the course of a fight, and if he can goad the Kazakhstan native into a slugfest, it may be a better strategy than staying at range and getting picked apart all night. Either way, Lemieux has rightfully earned a legion of fans for accepting this fight, and whatever he does after October 17 should receive the same amount of attention his bout with Golovkin is getting. Moral victories are not on the menu for him though. He’s here to win.
“I’ll tell you the truth,” Lemieux said, “I’ve always been a guy who is very, very confident in the fights, facing whoever I’ve got to face because I know my abilities and I know that when I’m at my best, I’ll be pretty good. So it was only a matter of time until I could test them and they could be written on paper, so I did what I had to do and I accept any challenge there is because I will beat anybody there is.”
Fighters will say things like that when the ink is dry on the contract and all that stands between them and fight night is making weight. In short, it’s too late now to say anything but the right things. Yet where some fighters’ confidence is manufactured, that of Lemieux doesn’t show up on fight week. It showed when he accepted the fight and signed his contract. He didn’t make a lot of noise, and he still hasn’t. Lemieux is on the verge of becoming a superstar, not just in Canada, but worldwide, and he may be one of the few to be able to handle that status without losing his soul in the process.
“I see the world with my own eyes and I value different kind of things compared to a lot of people out there,” he said. “I’m a very spiritual guy, I have kids, and I love simplicity. And I’ve been preparing for greatness all my life. I always knew that I would achieve something and I would climb very high up the mountain, and one day I’ll have my voice heard worldwide. So I’m well aware of what is coming, and I’m well prepared for it.”
That day may be tomorrow. Of course he’ll have to walk through hell to get there, but for guys like Lemieux, that’s the fun part.
“Golovkin is, like you said, the most feared guy out there right now and he’s the one with the biggest guns,” he said. “He’s got the titles and they’re ducking him, so when I beat him, then I’m on top. So it’s a very important fight on paper, and unifying belts, that’s legendary status. Not a lot of fighters get to do that, and to get the opportunity to do that is a big honor, and it’s not something to take for granted. You have to make sure you do whatever you’ve got to do to not miss your shot.”