Gennady Golovkin not buying Floyd Mayweather Jr. retirement claim

Three thoughts on Gennady Golovkin’s eighth round knockout win over David Lemieux at Madison Square Garden. He’s grown so popular he’s in a commercial for Apple watches and sold 15,000 tickets for Lemieux at Madison Square Garden the first week they were on sale.

Lemieux, of Montreal, said he was upset the referee stopped the fight when he did and called for a rematch, which appears unlikely considering how one-sided this one was.

Lemieux, who holds a 34-2 record with 31 of those victories coming by knockout, is elated after getting arguably the biggest fight of his career and he is determined to make the most of the opportunity. Golovkin has destroyed the same opponents who either gave Lemieux a tough time or beat him. Second, it’s a big fight on HBO and he’s strong and hungry. Trust me, this has the potential to be the fight-of-the-year and live up to the hype. He’s truly something else and he’s quickly taking over the sport of boxing. None of the three judges – Glenn Feldman, Julie Lederman and River Vale’s Steve Weisfeld – credited Lemieux with winning any of the seven completed rounds. Golovkin’s jab is a real ramrod of a thing, not just a setup tool by any means, a punch that’s a genuine weapon and carries power on its own merit. The more I win, the bigger the fights. He knocked out Martin Murray in the 10th round and Willie Moore Jr.in the sixth round after a third knockdown forced Moore to shake his head to the referee, who stopped the fight.

Lemieux still did a few of his best work thereafter, but Golovkin did. not. care.

Perhaps summing up the emotions of a nation, Niyazov concluded, “Whenever he fights, I feel like the whole country of Kazakhstan, and everyone with ties to that country is in his corner”. 

Golovkin vs. Lemieux was presented by K2 Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions in association with GGG Promotions and Eye of the Tiger Management and was sponsored by Corona Extra, BI Group and Tsesnabank.

Lemieux took an eight count, but the round ended before Golovkin could do more damage.

A solid Golovkin left the hook to the body sent Lemieux to the floor in the fifth round.

The fighters touched gloves once Lemieux got up, perhaps Golovkin’s way of acknowledging that he fouled Lemieux, who again made it the end of the round. On Saturday, he’ll take another step toward increasing his mass appeal when he takes on David Lemieux in his first HBO pay-per-view, a fight that he says is for much more than mere Middleweight supremacy.

Golovkin, age 33, entered with a 33-0 record, and massive momentum as a “name” in the game.

It was the second consecutive time that Gonzalez and Golovkin had scored knockout victories on the same card.

In 375 fights as an amateur and professional and thousands more in sparring, he has never been stopped or knocked off his feet.

The co-main event of the evening was between Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (32-0) and Brian Viloria (36-4) for the WBC Flyweight title. He also represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Hard overhand right from GGG, another right … jab, body shot. Viloria won opening round by being more active and going to the body.

“When I was first notified about this fight, I was ecstatic, to be able to be here and fight for Oscar De La Hoya, that is a dream because I look up to him”. 

“This is the biggest test for me”, said Golovkin. “I’m going to need all the tools in order to be sharp in a fight of this degree”.