Sanchez Views Stevens as More Dangerous Than Lemieux

Gennady Golovkin expects David Lemieux to provide him with the toughest test of his explosive career this Saturday.

Golovkin will be looking for a 31st knockout victory in his 34th career fight when he takes on the American, another knockout specialist, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lemieux's IBF middleweight belt is the only one Golovkin does not own and unification is a priority for the Ukraine fighter, who is having his first bout since beating Willie Monroe Jr in May.

But he is fully aware that he cannot take Lemieux (34-2, KO31) lightly, as he said:

"This is the biggest test for me. He's the IBF champ. It's a big situation, unification.

"Right now it's a very interesting situation to be in in the middleweight division. I think we have three or four fighters and it's very important who is number one."

Golovkin and Lemieux were speaking after their final media workout in New York, and the American is confident he can end his opponent's nine-year winning streak in the professional ranks.

For his part, trainer Abel Sanchez said he viewed past opponent Curtis Stevens as being a more dangerous obstacle - based on Lemieux's flaws and past defeats:

"I don't think David is going to change his stripes now. I think David is going to come at him and expose himself and give Gennady an opportunity to knock him out.
 
"I would say Curtis Stevens, who was as dangerous if not more than Lemieux because of his reputation- I think you look at him a little bit different.
 
"The Chin-Checkers [which Stevens was part of], they were beating everybody up and as a coach I look at what guys have done in the past. David is a force, but I think he's going to be really surprised when he gets checked the first time."