By Radio Rahim

Abel Sanchez, trainer for IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs), was not surprised with his boxer's one-sided domination of former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (34-3, 31KOs) on Saturday night at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Golovkin controlled the fight from the first round, with a sharp, hard jab. That jab kept Lemieux from doing much of anything. Golovkin used that punch as a tool to set up his power shots and finally got the TKO win in the eight round.

"I've said it before, nobody at 154 or 160 will last twelve rounds with Gennady," Sanchez said.

Lemieux presented a very dangerous opponent, at least on paper, with his own streak of knockouts and one puncher power. While they both brought power to the table, the early rounds made it very clear that there was a wide gap in their level of skill.

"I've said it for a long, long time that I needed somebody to challenge him. This was a guy who was more of a mental threat to him, not so much a physical threat. A mental threat, a perceived threat was there so he used the jab a little better and he was able to do everything off the jab. Some of the hooks that he threw off the jab were powerful too," Sanchez said.  

"The plan [in the early rounds] was to see what David was going to do, but David didn't really want to attack so Gennady had to press the issue. The jab was magnificent today and controlled the fight."