BARRY MCGUIGAN It’s risk and reward for boldbillyjoe

HATS off to Billy Joe Saunders. Agreeing to a title defence in an opponent’s back yard, a week before Christmas, takes some serious pluck. A match against Canadian banger David Lemieux is a dangerous fight on his home turf of Montreal. Lemieux is not easily subdued. He has three defeats in his career and can be outboxed, but 33 knockout wins prove he can throw leather. The loss to Gennady Golovkin two years ago was not unexpected. Neither, to a degree, was the defeat to Marco Antonio Rubio in 2011, a dangerous, slashing puncher who can really fight. The result that gives Saunders hope is the defeat that followed in his next fight, eight months later, to Joachim Alcine, who was coming off a draw against an opponent who had lost nine of his 23 fights and, before that, fell in the first against Alfredo Angulo. But that was six years ago. Anyone can have a bad night and against Alcine, Lemieux (below) had nil snap in his punches. Saunders is building momentum. He looked at it against Willie Munroe Jr last time out (above) and has all the tools. His win against Andy Lee to claim the WBO middleweight title two years ago was arguably his best performance. And don’t forget he took all Chris Eubank Jr could throw at him 12 months earlier. But he has never fought in front of a hostile crowd abroad. That can be very difficult for a fighter, especially against a dangerous opponent like Lemieux. Saunders is looking to make the next step, at unifications with Saul Alvarez and Golovkin. We have to see this bout as a stepping stone to that. Saunders is as game as you like. He would fight anybody anywhere, but boxing is not only about guts. It’s about details and in big fights having the percentages in your favour. On the other hand, this bout will give him real gravitas. If he goes to Lemieux’s back yard and boxes his ears off, the world takes notice. Lemieux will be on him from the start, charging forward and throwing big punches, trying to force the error in a bear-pit atmosphere in Montreal. As a counter puncher, that will suit Saunders, who can box as well as fight. He has the self belief to back himself and the skills to cope as he showed against Eubank Jr, during the second half of that incredible fight in 2014. I’m sure all things being equal, his promoter Frank Warren would have chosen to stage the match at home, but sometimes you just have to roll the dice.