Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux promise excitement in title fight

Gennady Golovkin’s English might be a work in progress, but he doesn’t need creative, boastful words to identify himself as a champion who competes like a finished product.

Notice his sneer before a big punch. Watch where he hits. See how he remains unflinching at contact he absorbs.

“I promise a good fight,” Golovkin (33-0, 30 knockouts) said at Friday’s weigh-in for Saturday night’s HBO pay-per-view middleweight title unification against David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs). Both came in fractionally under the 160-pound limit.

The Madison Square Garden card also includes a flyweight title defense by unbeaten Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez against veteran former two-division champion Brian Viloria.

“I can’t wait to perform,” Lemieux said. “We’re going to give a great show. I want to give the people everything they want to see. I’m coming here and I’m leaving this place with those belts.”

But the 26-year-old International Boxing Federation champion faces an imposing test in his attempt to wrest the World Boxing Assn. title from a fighter riding a knockout streak of 20 consecutive fights.

Golovkin, 33, has never been knocked down in 350 amateur and pro fights, or in sparring sessions connected to those bouts. It even includes a session with current light-heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev.

En route to his sixth-round knockout of Willie Monroe Jr., Golovkin effectively let the challenger punch him in the early going, figuring the fans deserved some entertainment before the stoppage.

“Sometimes, I think, ‘Just touch me. Come, come, come. Punch! No, hard punch! I want more,’” Golovkin said.

The faith in his chin and strength crafted through a routine of two separate three-hour training sessions in Big Bear under trainer Abel Sanchez have built what some think is boxing’s perfect beast.

Lemieux, after knocking down Hassan N’Dam four times in his June title victory, is promising to bring more pressure than ever at Golovkin, expressing the same skepticism some have aimed at the Kazakhstan fighter because of a fight ledger void of big names.

These are “two fighters who have explosive power, who don’t know how to take a step backward,” said Lemieux’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya.

For Lemieux, is there contentment in making a $1.5-million purse that is 10 times greater than he’s ever earned for one fight?

For Golovkin, the headliner of his first pay-per-view, there’s new turbulence such as Thursday afternoon’s.

In the process of cutting weight, spitting in trash cans to move things along, he was scheduled to give a drug test, fulfill a commitment to print reporters and then do national television interviews for nearly another hour.

“This is my maturation,” Golovkin said. “HBO has given me support, now it’s just my job to be prepared.”

That preparation probably will be needed from the first bell, as Lemieux, wielding a strong left hook, has Golovkin wondering whether “maybe he wants a crazy fight … a street fight.”

Sanchez said Golovkin has a proven history to delay his aggression in the first round.

“When I give him a hug in the corner, I say, ‘Be careful with the rush, use the jab,’” Sanchez said. “If David comes at him, it creates opportunities for him. He sees things [early]… From then on, it’s a matter of just pacing his shots and doing what he can do.”

Golovkin’s plan is to provide fireworks, drawing attention since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement and the injury absence of aging Manny Pacquiao, while positioning himself to fight the Nov. 21 winner of World Boxing Council middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and popular challenger Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.

“I think everybody understands this is first-class boxing, a championship,” Golovkin said. “I want to do this old-school [and] not be all about business.

“We just need one champion.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire

BOXING

Who: Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30 KOs), Kazakhstan, vs. David Lemieux (34-2, 31 KOs), Canada, for the WBA and IBF middleweight titles.

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

When: Saturday, pay-per-view broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Pacific

Television: HBO pay-per-view, $59.95 high-definition.

Undercard: Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (43-0, 37 KOs) vs. Brian Viloria (36-4, 22 KOs) for Gonzalez’s WBC flyweight title; Luis Ortiz (22-0, 19 KOs) vs. Matias Ariel Vidondo (20-1-1, 18 KOs), heavyweights; Tureano Johnson (18-1, 13 KOs) vs. Eamonn O’Kane (17-1-1, five KOs), middleweights.