Former IBF champion, David Lemieux, challenging WBO middleweight champion for belt
Some people argue that there is no place for boxing in the modern era of sports — that it is declining every year and is on the verge of extinction.
With his upcoming fight in Laval, Que. on Dec. 16, and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight belt up for grabs, David Lemieux may do enough to not only make Canadian boxing relevant, but also resurrect worldwide boxing, putting it on the right track back to the glory it once had.
The Montreal native has had an impressive run throughout his professional boxing career. With 38 wins on his record, 33 of which have been knockouts, David Lemieux always brings an immense danger every time he steps into the ring.Lemieux initially asserted his dominance in the middleweight roster in 2015, when he first obtained the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title for himself. To make his first title defense, Lemieux was offered to fight for a title unification, fighting the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Championship (WBC), and the International Boxing Organization (IBO) middleweight champion at the time, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Things didn’t go Lemieux’s way that night, and he lost the belt that he had obtained just one fight prior.
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But now, many things have changed. Lemieux has been able to make a strong comeback, winning all of his fights since his loss to Golovkin. Golovkin is still the champion, but to become an undisputed one, he needs one more belt — the WBO middleweight championship. It’s not as easy as it sounds for Golovkin because Billy Joe Saunders is the current WBO champion, and Lemieux, not Golovkin, is set to challenge Saunders for his belt.
Lemieux can easily win over Saunders if he outsmarts him in the ring. He needs to surprise Saunders by faking his jabs and sneaking in power shots, which will greatly reduce Saunders’ time to think and react.It would be difficult for Lemieux to finish Saunders by a knockout, so he needs to confuse Saunders as much as he can so that he is slow and unable to keep up with the pace.
Given that Lemieux defeats Saunders on fight night, things will get interesting. Lemieux can revive his rivalry with Golovkin once again. If Lemieux gets past Saunders, Golovkin will step into the ring with Lemieux for a chance to steal his belts and unify them all — making him the middleweight champion of the world. Not only is this what his fans want, but this is also the opportunity of a lifetime for Lemieux. If he wins against Saunders, and then again in his rematch with Golovkin, he can finally legitimize himself as a champion — the one and only, the undisputed.
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