Boxing needs matchups like Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux to thrive
Boxing has always survived and will continue to survive as a spectator sport, because the sweet science is, at its core, the most basic animal instinct there is and ever has been.
Survival of the fittest, man-against-man inside that squared circle. Hit or be hit. Hurt or be hurt. It hasn't changed in more than a 100 hundred years, since gloves covered bare knuckles.
But the sport cannot and will not thrive in this age of instant gratification and "the what else is on TV?" mentality unless the best are consistently pitted against the best. It's what made boxing the most popular sport in America during much of the 20 th century. Johnson-Jeffries, Dempsey-Tunney, Louis-Schmeling, Robinson-La Motta, Ali-Frazier, Hagler-Hearns, Leonard-Duran, Tyson-Holyfield. These champions never shied away from fighting the best opponents they could find, and almost always, multiple times. And you couldn't look away.
That's why the middleweight title unification showdown announced Saturday between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux, for Oct. 17 at Madison Square Garden, is so important.
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These are the types of matchups boxing must have to thrive, not merely survive. People will pay to see the two hardest punchers and knockout artists in the glamorous middleweight division face each other with everything on the line. Neither is an American, but it doesn't matter. We all know it will be a slugfest for as long as it lasts.
Golovkin's handlers at K2 Promotions have complained for a few years that none of the big names wants to fight their man, a baby-faced assassin from Kazakhstan who has knocked out 20 opponents in a row and won 30 of 33 fights by knockout, along with capturing the hearts of fight fans around the world.
And Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya, who always faced the best during his career, has preached for years about the best-fighting-the-best model as being most important for the sport. Lemieux, a 26-year-old French-Canadian and Golden Boy fighter, has won 31 of 34 by knockout. Both he and GGG are aggressive power punchers, and both are in the prime of their careers. What could be better?
These two sides stepped up for the good of boxing, not to see who can make the most money, but simply because it's the best fight that can be made. Canelo Alvarez against Miguel Cotto, which is on the verge of being announced, is another highly anticipated middleweight matchup, and the winners of the two fights will likely meet down the road. In essence, a tournament of champions.
And we could very well see Andre Ward fight Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev sometime in the very near future, a classic boxer vs. puncher matchup of champions, both in the prime of their careers, both willing to risk their undefeated records.
Heck, the ageless Bernard Hopkins recently said he wanted to end his legendary career by fighting Golovkin, not some milquetoast just so he could go out on top. For the record, that would be Kovalev and Golovkin back to back. Are you kidding me?
This is what boxing fans have craved for years, and unfortunately, have seen all too infrequently.
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Even with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on the cusp of retirement, boxing is not lacking for young stars to fill the void. It is a global sport, and there are plenty from around the world poised to grab the (brass) ring: Canelo Alvarez, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia, Felix Verdejo, Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr., Artur Beterbiev, Oscar Valdez, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, Amir Imam, to name a few, and younger rising stars such as Erickson Lubin, Jessie Magdaleno, Gilberto Ramirez, Vasyl Lomachenko and Julian Williams.
And don't forget about the great crop of heavyweights poised to take the mantle from Wladimir Klitschko: WBC champion Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Joseph Parker, not to mention an amateur super heavyweight with the greatest name in boxing, Cam Awesome, who just medaled at the Pan Am Games.
The bottom line is that there are a ton of great young fighters on the rise, and while they need to be brought along at a proper pace, when the time is right, let them face the best.
And not just the best within your promotional group. Face the best in the world.
Boxing fans, and the fighters themselves, deserve it.