Gennady Golovkin will fight David Lemieux in title unification Oct. 17 on HBO PPV

Gennady Golovkin will finally have a chance to unify middleweight titles on Oct. 17. (Joe Camporeale, Paste BN Sports)

Gennady Golovkin is finally getting his wish.

The WBA middleweight champion at last will get a chance to unify titles when he squares off with David Lemieux on Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden, Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler told Paste BN Sports. The match-up will be televised by HBO Pay-Per-View.

"It's a done deal, huge fight between the two biggest punchers in the middleweight division," Loeffler said. "HBO felt that with this type of matchup it was time Gennady made the jump to pay-per-view and all their projections are very good. They don't want to put together an event that's not financially successful.

"The more that it generates, the higher the purses are going to be for the boxers. We're very confident based on media reaction, fan reaction that this is going to be a very successful event overall."

Golovkin has been a staple of HBO's boxing programming since his debut on the network in September 2012, and has been mowing opponents down ever since. He destroyed Grzegorz Proksa that evening and has greatly increased his name recognition in the United States following the bout. Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs) regularly attracts crowds upward of 10,000, and the native of Kazakhstan has become must-see TV.

This will be Golovkin's maiden voyage on pay-per-view, though, and it will be interesting to see how the 33-year-old draws, especially against an opponent who is mostly unknown in the U.S. This only promises to be one of the toughest tests of Golovkin's career. Lemieux isn't a crafty boxer, but he can punch like a mule and perhaps will test Golovkin's chin.

The undercard will feature three fights, per Loeffler, with Golden Boy controlling two bouts and K2 Promotions selection one matchup. Loeffler said the leading candidate for the co-feature is flyweight champion Roman Gonzalez, who debuted on HBO under Golovkin's win over Willie Monroe in May. Gonzalez (43-0, 27 KOs) is one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in boxing, and his win over Edgar Sosa drew rave reviews from fans.

Lemieux, 26, was once a highly-regarded prospect but suffered consecutive upset defeats in 2011. He rebounded in a big way, though. He signed on with Golden Boy Promotions last year and subsequently knocked out Gabe Rosado in his fight on HBO.

The Montreal native followed that up with a four-knockdown decision win over Hassan N'Dam last month to win the vacant IBF middleweight title bout. Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs) is a huge puncher and comes forward in every fight, promising an explosive bout on Oct. 17.

Golovkin, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, has scored 20 consecutive knockouts.

I will fight @lemieuxboxing in a Middleweight Title Unification on #October17@TheGarden & @HBO PPV! #GolovkinLemieuxpic.twitter.com/E6BTxueSWB- Gennady Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) July 25, 2015