Boxer Lemieux eyes different outcome in return to Madison Square Garden
Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux returns to Madison Square Garden on Saturday, looking to dispatch Tureano Johnson and set the stage for an even bigger fight.
“I’m ready to get back with the top guys,” said Lemieux, a 29-yearold from Laval, Que. “We’ve been aiming for the top guys. Tureano Johnson is in the way so we’re going to take care of him and see what happens after.”
If Lemieux has his way, Saul (Canelo) Alvarez is next. Lemieux has long had his sights on the Mexican star.
Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs) will be easy to find Saturday. He is fighting WBA super-middleweight champion Rocky Fielding (27-1, 15 KOs) in the main event in New York.
Having captured world titles in both the super-welterweight (154 pounds) and middleweight (160) divisions, the 28-year-old Alvarez wants to add super-middleweight (168) to his collection.
Fielding, a native of Liverpool, England, looks to extend his win streak to seven straight as he makes his U.S. debut.
It’s Lemieux’s first bout at the boxing mecca since an eighthround knockout loss to Gennady Golovkin in October 2015. The Kazakhstani star, claiming the IBF title Lemieux had won just four months before, left as unified middleweight champion.
Lemieux is excited to be back at MSG.
“My last fight to the Garden wasn’t the way I wanted it. This time it’s going to be the way I want it,” he said.
Lemieux is coming off an impressive one-punch, first-round knockout of Gary (Spike) O’Sullivan in September on the undercard of the Alvarez- Golovkin rematch in Las Vegas. Lemieux felled the Irish fighter with a crushing left hook.
“It’s a God-given gift,” Lemieux said of his power. “Some fighters have speed. Some fighters are just very slick ... some are just powerful. Power has always been with me, as long as I could punch.
“It’s been a gift I had. And over the years, it’s been perfected.”
It was his second straight win since a decision loss to Billy Joe Saunders last December for the WBO world middleweight title. While that loss slowed Lemieux’s return to the top, the Canadian believes he is hitting his prime.
“I feel like I’m hitting some highs that I’ve never hit in the past, in terms of power. I’ve never been this strong and powerful my entire career. I can’t wait to display it on fight night.”
Alvarez won a majority decision win on the same card. Their first fight ended in a draw.
Saturday marks Alvarez’s first outing since signing an 11-fight, US$365-million mega-deal with DAZN, which is streaming the card. Johnson, a 34-year-old southpaw from the Bahamas, has lost only to Curtis (The Cerebral Assassin) Stevens and Sergiy (The Technician) Derevyanchenko.
“He’s a very good fighter,” said Lemieux. “We didn’t take him lightly. I took just one week off after my last fight against O’Sullivan. I’m in tremendous shape.”
Ring Magazine has Alvarez at No. 3 in its pound-for-pound rankings ( behind Ukraine lightweight Vasiliy Lomachenko and American welterweight Terence Crawford). Golovkin is No. 5.