By Guy Docetoni
Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin successfully defended his perfect record by stopping David Lemieux on Saturday in front of over 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The end came in the eighth frame, with referee Steve Willis having seen Lemieux take enough punishment and calling an end to the contest at 1’32” into the round. Lemieux had been down on the mat once earlier in the fight, during the fifth round. After seven full rounds, all three judges’ scorecards read 70-62.
Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) was in the driver’s seat from the opening bell– working behind a heavy jab that rocked Lemieux’s head back like a power shot, and controlling the action and real estate with no regard for his opponent’s skills. Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs), on the other hand, was never able to establish his distance, and found himself punching air and on the defense throughout the encounter.
“I feel great, it was a great fight,” said Golovkin. “I felt his power, but I was strong tonight and my punches hurt him.”
Punchstats had Golovkin landing 280 out of 549 punches thrown (an incredible 51%); Lemieux landed 89 out of 335.