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Golovkin vs Lemieux: Common opponent picks Golovkin to win by knockout

Gabriel Rosado, who has battled both Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux, sees Golovkin winning early on Saturday night.

On his experience against both guys

"I fought both of these guys. Good fighters. It's a fight where you're definitely gonna get your money's worth. Two bangers. I slightly got the edge leaning towards GGG, but it's definitely a fight that can go either way because of the punching power."

Why he's picking Golovkin

"I think he's more technically sound, and he has a good jab. I think he sets his power up, where Lemieux is more everything is power, power, power. GGG knows how to set up his power."

On the power of both fighters

"I think they're both equally as strong. I think the thing with Lemieux is, you can gauge his power and you can adapt to his power, because every shot is coming hard. You can kind of get into the groove of his shots. GGG is more 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3! And he rips the third shot. You kinda gotta be on your game, because he'll throw a 1-2 just to set you up for a hard hook. Lemieux is mostly just the 1-2 and the hook is hard."

"I fought Lemieux blind from the third round up because of a broken orbital bone. The only reason I stayed in the fight through the 10th round was I was able to gauge his power. Even with my vision blurred, I was able to just feel him out and adapt to the shots."

On the fight ending early

"I'd be surprised if this fight goes past the sixth round. It could be over in the first round. The first round I see these guys feeling each other out. I see GGG throwing some jabs, maybe a couple body shots. I don't see Lemieux jabbing, I see Lemieux throwing some hard shots, because he doesn't know how to do nothing but throw hard shots. I think GGG is going to be more patient. I see Lemieux running into some hard shots just because of his aggressiveness. In order for Lemieux to be successful in the fight, he has to be in GGG's chest, and not fight him from a distance. GGG's power comes from a distance, and Lemieux's power comes from the inside. He's a good inside guy. I think his approach should be to just stay in GGG's chest, constantly. Just lay your head on his chest."

On who was the tougher opponent

"I got injured in both fights. Cuts with GGG and the broken orbital with Lemieux. But the more difficult fight was the GGG fight. The only reason the Lemieux fight was difficult was just because I was blind. Honestly, I felt like it was a fight where I was gonna knock him out. I felt like I could knock him out, I felt like I could beat him. It was just a matter of letting him shoot his load in the first couple rounds, and then applying the pressure, kinda like I did in the fourth round. But I was getting hit with some shots in that eye that it was just, like, man, I felt like my eyeball was gonna pop out. I was trying to win the fight, but the injury just made it so hard. ... If nothing was wrong with my eye, I could've been able to stand my ground. I just couldn't. Take nothing away from his performance, he was the better man that day, but I definitely see GGG as the guy who's gonna hurt him.

"I think it could even be a body shot. It could be a left hook to the body. It could definitely be a body shot. Because Lemieux fights with his elbows real high, I could see GGG digging him with a left hook to the body. ... Don't forget what he did to Macklin, he almost broke his ribs."

On a fight with James Kirkland falling apart

"We had a main event lined up on HBO with James Kirkland, and then Kirkland after agreeing to the fight starts asking for double his purse. It was ridiculous, man. The fact that he just came off an ugly knockout, and he's getting an opportunity to be back on HBO as a main event in a fight where, it would've been great for the fans, he turned it down. It is what it is. But we're working on a fight right now, so I think we've got something lined up for December. With Kirkland, it was gonna be a main event. Now if this fight happens, it's looking like an opener, possibly. I won't know until a couple days and see if it happens."

"I think Kirkland's got issues, man. I think it's a mental thing with Kirkland. What fighter doesn't wanna headline on HBO? He was making good money. It wasn't bullshit money. But it is what it is, man."

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