Lemieux, Stevens Disagree on Jacobs' Chances Against Golovkin

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Add their opinions on the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs fight to the list of things David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens disagree on as their own fight nears.

Stevens believes his fellow middleweight from Brooklyn has a chance against Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs), the heavily favored knockout artist from Kazakhstan. Lemieux can’t envision Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) pulling off an upset in their HBO Pay-Per-View main event March 18 at Madison Square Garden, the same arena where Golovkin stopped Lemieux in the eighth round of their October 2015 fight.

“I have no advice for him,” Lemieux told reporters this week at a Manhattan restaurant. “He can do what he wants. I don’t think he’s gonna win. … Any fighter has a chance against any fighter. But I think Golovkin’s a better fighter, a more complete fighter. It’s gonna be a tough fight for Jacobs. But Jacobs is very good, obviously. But I’m not really paying attention to that right now. I’m just concentrating on my guy, my subject.”

Stevens has known Jacobs since they were amateurs and thus is very familiar with Jacobs’ skills. After sharing a ring with Golovkin, he also knows more than most just how tough of an assignment Jacobs will face a week from Saturday.

Unlike Lemieux, however, Stevens thinks Jacobs can present problems for Golovkin, particularly if Jacobs boxes Golovkin.

“He can win,” Stevens said. “Danny’s a very excellent boxer. He can win. But like I said, as long as he stays away. It’s hard to stay away for 12 rounds. We’ve just gotta see if his chin holds up. But he can definitely win.”

Regardless, Stevens is interested to see how his friend fares against the best middleweight in boxing.

“This is boxing,” Stevens said. “He can be aggressive or he can try to box. He’s an excellent boxer. I don’t see him too much as a slugger. But it’s hard to stay away for 12 rounds, like I said. But if he could weather the storm, he probably could win.”

Stevens acknowledged, though, that Jacobs’ chin ultimately will determine how he’ll perform against an opponent that has won 92 percent of his bouts by knockout.

“I’m not trying to be mean and I’m not taking anything away from him, but we all know his chin is a little suspect,” Stevens said. “So if Golovkin hit him, he may go down. Or he may get back up. We don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) and Montreal’s Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) are preparing for their own 12-round middleweight match Saturday night. HBO will televise their fight as the main event of a “Boxing After Dark” doubleheader from Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

HBO’s broadcast will begin at 11 p.m. ET with a 10-round bout that’ll match Cuban junior lightweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa (25-1, 17 KOs) against Nicaragua’s Rene Alvarado (24-7, 16 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.