If you're looking for action, then look no further. This weekend may be devoid of UFC fights, but that's only to make room for the most tantalizing lineup of the entire boxing year. HBO's October 17th pay-per-view card features fan-favorite Gennady Golovkin vs David Lemieux, while the co-feature sees flyweight king (and #1 pound-for-pound) Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez taking on Brian Viloria.
Altogether, these four fighters boast a 79% knockout rate. If we remove the hard-hitting but somewhat conservative Brian Viloria from the equation, that number rises to 88%. In other words, knockouts and knockdowns seem very, very likely.
For Golovkin, Lemieux represents the first real puncher he's faced since breaking through as a middleweight star. Lemieux may, in fact, be the single most powerful puncher at middleweight, though he lacks the depth of skill that Golovkin possesses. Still, at just 26 years old, Lemieux is improving with every fight, and it will be interesting to see Golovkin against a man who may actually be able to force him backward.
As for Gonzalez, he's really just passing time while waiting for either a rematch with Juan Francisco Estrada, whose incredible boxing skills I broke down here, or a fight with breakout super flyweight champ Naoya Inoue. Gonzalez is a must see fighter, heavy handed with excellent defense and superb combination punching, and though he'll almost certainly beat Viloria, the Hawaiian veteran has enough craft and pop to make the contest interesting.
We break down both of these fights in-depth, discussing not only the meaning of each bout for the fighters involved, but the strategies and techniques we expect to see in both.
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