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by Hans Olson, ringside
On December 14, 2004, Joachim Alcine knocked out local hero Stephane Ouellett in the opening round for the biggest win of his career at that point. The win solidified his status as one of the top fighters in Quebec at the time, putting him on the world stage; a stage that would ultimately lead to titles, glory, losses, and disappointments. It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Joachim, but nearly 7 years later—Alcine has another defining win…against another local hero.
Joachim Alcine defeated David Lemieux Saturday night in Montreal.
It was a fight that was dominated early on by Lemieux with hard power shots, the effective aggression of David Lemieux backing up the tentative Alcine. During the 1st round’s final minute though, Alcine sat on the ropes, taunting and inviting David to unload on him while having up his high guard. Not frustrated, Lemieux continued to blast away.
As the fight progressed though, Alcine’s chest pounding showmanship did lure David into the same type of fight that Marco Antonio Rubio did back in April. In the 4th, Lemieux was rocked, and the fight would have many ebbs and flows throughout. A wildly intense crowd (a crowd that did have a number of Alcine fans) certainly got their money’s worth over the course of 12 rounds. Taking the fight to Lemieux down the stretch, Alcine put himself in a position for the upset.
Official ringside scores for the contest were 114-114 even, and 116-112(twice); the latter two favoring Alcine, who becomes the new WBC International middleweight champion.
For David Lemieux, like Yankee great Yogi Berra once said: “it’s deja vu all over again.”
Although he showed many great things tonight, it’s hard to predict where the young Lemieux goes from here.
In the evening’s co-feature, Adonis “Superman” Stevenson absolutely destroyed Aaron Pryor Jr with a TKO9, ending what was a fantastic 2011 for the Haitian born Canadian. Starting well early, Adonis avoided the taller Pryor’s pecking jab, getting around it and landing straight lefts to the body and upstairs, eventually putting Pryor down (although that particular knockdown–the first of many—could have been ruled a slip). In the 3rd,Adonis pummeled Pryor, knocking him down twice…Pryor barely surviving the round. Over the course of the next few rounds, Pryor’s eye began to swell, and he repeatedly got caught with flush shots. The end came at 0:43 in the 9th, a bloody Pryor tasting the canvas again…his corner advising referee Marlon B. Wright to stop the contest. With the win, Adonis Stevenson sets up a big 2012.
In earlier action, Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas knocked out Matthew Greer with a TKO3; Kevin Lavallee beat Ignac Kassai in a 4 round decision; Arash Usmanee outpointed the rugged Antonio Joao Bento with ringside scores of 100-90(twice), and 99-91; Eleider “Storm” Alvarez destroyed Emiliano Cayetano with a first round knockout; Tyler Asselstine defeated Philippe Frenois in an 8 rounder; and Didier Bence dominated Sandy Pembroke to take a unanimous decision win in his 4th pro fight.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @hansolson
