ANGER, NUDITY AT WEIGH-IN
Lemieux makes his 160 pounds after ditching undies
David Lemieux might be the mandatory challenger, but Billy Joe Saunders is the World Boxing Organization middleweight champion. It was he and his promoter who hold the cards. And it was they who could have forced the challenger to come to them.
Saturday night, near midnight at Place Bell, we’ll know whether it was the right decision.
“I hate travelling with my fighters away from home. You’ve gone into the other guy’s backyard. You know fighting in front of your own fans is going to drag a bit more out of you,” said Frank Warren, Saunders’s promoter. “If you’re away from home and getting beat … maybe you feel I’ll go home. I’ve done my best. But (boxing at home), you’re going to go out on your shield.
“I just hope we made the right decision.”
Saunders, 25-0 with 12 knockouts, makes the third defence of his 160-pound title against Laval’s Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs), in the 12-round main event on a 12-bout card that begins at 5 p.m. The final three fights will be televised in the U.S. by HBO starting at 9:40 p.m.
Saunders, a slick southpaw, has never fought as a professional outside the United Kingdom but has spent three weeks in Canada — the first two in Toronto — to get acclimatized.
He hopes to stick, jab and manoeuvre out of harm’s way against Lemieux, one of the sport’s most ferocious punchers. Saunders has never been knocked down. Lemieux, a former International Boxing Federation middleweight champ, has stopped 80 per cent of his opponents.
There has been much enmity on social media between the two leading up to the fight.
And Friday’s weigh-in was not without its controversy, Lemieux forced to get on the scale a second time because he was overweight at 160.2.
Then a third time because the scale was oscillating and Saunders’s trainer, Dominic Ingle, wanted definitive proof. Saunders made weight the first time, although he stripped naked.
Insults flew between the two, with Lemieux giving Saunders a one-finger salute. Lemieux’s only comment as he left the stage and retreated to a dressing room: “I’m going to f--- him up.”
Saunders retreated as well, only to briefly reappear. He claimed to be unperturbed over Lemieux’s apparent weight issue. The Quebecer frequently has struggled to make the 160-pound limit.
“He won’t beat me. He hasn’t got the brain to beat me,” Saunders said. “There’s fear in his eyes already. He knows he’s beaten. I’m too much for him.
“What he did, in England, that would never be allowed. But don’t worry, it don’t bother me. I’m away. I know no favours. I’ll get on with stuff.”
The potential danger, of course, could be if Lemieux cut too many corners to make weight, which will reduce his energy quickly once the opening bell rings. But his trainer, Marc Ramsay, denied his fighter had to starve himself or became dehydrated over the final days of training.
“He (Saunders) should be a lot more worried about the 180 pounds (Lemieux will weigh when he enters the ring) than the 160 today,” Ramsay said. “My guy’s better because he’s a real fighter.
“People speak about David Lemieux like his best ability is his punching power. His best ability? He’s a little bit nuts. You need to be a little bit nuts to do that sport and to perform at that level. David is, just enough.”
Lemieux lost his title to Gennady Golovkin in his first defence, a fight he need not have taken at that juncture, simply because he was determined to face the best in the division.
But Lemieux was badly outclassed that night, his deficiencies exposed, as he lost all eight rounds before being stopped by one of the greatest pugilists of this era.
It has taken him more than two years and four bouts — all victories — to get into a title position again.
Ramsay said they’ve worked hard over that interval, not only on technical aspects, but ensuring Lemieux never again will be in awe of the moment. Ramsay has vowed Lemieux will impose his style and ability on Saunders.
“We have a fast opponent, a good technician. But he’s not a guy that likes to work. His (punch) percentage isn’t high. He’s not a volume boxer,” Ramsay said. “He has the tendency to show when he’s in pain or has to work hard. That’s the wrong message to send to David Lemieux. He can feel and smell that.
“At one point we’re going to crack him.”
Montreal’s Michael Griffin will be the referee. The three judges are: Phil Edwards (U.K.); Benoit Roussel (Canada) and Gerardo Martinez (Puerto Rico).
He has the tendency to show when he’s in pain or has to work hard. That’s the wrong message to send to David Lemieux.