Tag Archives: david lemieux

Posted on 03/05/2022

By: Hans Themistode

David Benavidez never officially lost his WBC super-middleweight world title. Now, he’ll formally have the opportunity to regain at least a portion of what was forcefully taken away from him.

The newly turned 25-year-old will take on former middleweight champion and current 168-pound contender, David Lemieux on May 21st, in Phoenix, Benavidez’s hometown, for the vacant WBC interim crown.

In 2018, Benavidez saw his first championship reign come to an end following a fairly lengthy suspension due to a failed drug test which revealed the presence of benzoylecgonine, the main component in cocaine.

Benavidez would regain his world title once he returned, following a stoppage win over Anthony Dirrell. Ultimately, his championship status proved to be transient as he was stripped of his newly won title for failing to make weight prior to his showdown against Roamer Alexis Angulo.

Despite his transgressions, Benavidez has vowed to become both a better fight and a better man. So far so good as he spent the entirety of 2021 in the winner’s circle. During the first quarter of the year, Benavidez punished Ronald Ellis, resulting in a stoppage win in the penultimate round. Before the year came to a close, Benavidez pounded Kyrone Davis until he was forced to wave the white flag in the ninth.

As for Lemieux, he grew sick and tired of squeezing down to the 160-pound middleweight weight limit. Since making the move eight pounds north, Lemieux has picked up three consecutive victories, the latter two coming before the sound of the final bell.

The winner of Benavidez and Lemieux’s upcoming battle will find themselves in prime position to challenge current undisputed super middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez.

Posted on 12/16/2021

By: Hans Themistode

David Benavidez has admitted to his mistakes and vowed to never commit them again.

After watching both of his super middleweight title reigns come to an end due to external circumstances, Benavidez believes he’s learned his lesson. Shortly after winning the WBC 168 pound title against Ronald Gavril in 2017 and defending his crown against him the following year, Benavidez was stripped of his title due to a positive drug test for cocaine.

While Benavidez would effectively work his way back up the ranks and reign as champion once again in 2019, he was stripped of his championship status on the scales as he failed to make the 168 pound limit against Roamer Alexis Angulo. Since then, Canelo Alvarez has gone on to win Benavidez’s world title, along with every other title at 168 pounds.

Although the now 25-year-old has urged Alvarez to face him, he’ll be forced to take another route. With Alvarez set to take on the winner between Ilunga Makabu and Thabiso Mchunu for the WBC cruiserweight crown, the WBC sanctioning body will pit their two highest-ranked contenders against one another for the interim title.

“The WBC granted Saul Alvarez a special permission to challenge the WBC champion in the cruiserweight division in 2022,” said the WBC in a written statement. “Reason for which, the Board of Governors approved a WBC interim championship in the division which will be contested by #1 David Benavidez and #2 David Lemieux.”

Benavidez, a Phoenix, Arizona native, has reeled off two straight knockout victories since he was stripped of his title. 2021 has been particularly kind to the 25-year-old, as he made things look incredibly easy against both Ronald Ellis and Kyrone Davis.

As for Lemieux, the former 160-pound belt holder has found a ton of success since moving up in weight in 2019. The 32-year-old has looked right at home in his new weight class, stopping his two most recent opponents, including David Zegarra, a fringe contender Lemieux easily knocked out in the second round earlier this year.

Posted on 03/11/2021

By: Hans Themistode

Former middleweight titlist David Lemieux will look to get back into championship contention next month when he takes on Ronny Landaeta. Originally, Lemieux (42-4, 35 KOs) was scheduled to take on Robert Talarek. However, due to reasons that are unclear, Talarek was forced to withdraw.

For Lemieux, his career has somewhat stalled following a wide unanimous decision loss at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders in 2017. Since then, the former belt holder has picked up four straight victories but in both 2020 and 2019, he managed to only step into the ring once.

Despite the victories and inactivity however, Lemieux is still looking to bag his first big win since a 2018 first-round stoppage over Gary O’Sullivan. While Lemieux is attempting to recapture championship glory, he’ll do so in his second weight class.

After spending years at 160 pounds, the strain placed on the body of Lemieux eventually became too much for him to bear. And with that, he moved up in weight in late 2019. Although the results have been to his liking, Lemieux is hoping that he continues to impress. In part because of his desire to face unified super middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez.

The two were thought to be on a collision while the Montreal native campaigned at 160 pounds. However, with Lemieux constantly dealing with weight issues, their contest ultimately fell by the wayside.

In the case of Landaeta (17-3, 11 KOs), his newfound date with Lemieux will undoubtedly represent the toughest fight of his career. Presently, the Venezuelan product has hit a rough patch in his career. In his last ring appearance, the 38-year-old lost via wide unanimous decision against Kevin Lele Sadjo. In totality, he has come up short in three of his past four fights and appears to have a tall mountain to climb in his contest against Lemieux.

Posted on 05/05/2017

HBO PPV Boxing Preview: Canelo vs. Chavez, Lemieux vs. Reyes, Matthysse vs. Taylor
By: William Holmes

On Saturday night HBO will televised another Canelo Alvarez Pay Per View as he takes on fellow Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

This bout will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada during Cinco De Mayo weekend. Hopefully, the winner of this bout, expected by many to be Canelo, will be next in line to take on the current middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin.

Photo Credit: Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

At least two bouts will be shown on the undercard, including Golden Boy mainstays David Lemieux and Lucas Matthysse. Super prospect Joseph Diaz will also likely be on the televised portion of the card.

The following is a preview of the three main fights.

Lucas Matthysse (37-4) vs. Emmanuel Taylor (20-4); Welterweights

The hard hitting Lucas Matthysse has long been a fan favorite, but has not competed since being knocked out by Viktor Postol in 2015.

Matthysse will be giving up one inch in height to Taylor but will have a significant four inch reach advantage. Age may be a factor for Matthysse as he is thirty four years old and eight years older than his opponent.

Inactivity will also be a factor for Matthysse; he fought zero times in 2016 and twice in 2015. Taylor fought twice in 2016 and once in 2015.

Matthysse was an amateur champion in Argentina but did not have a lot of success on the international circuit as an amateur. Taylor is a three time National PAL Champion and a five time junior golden gloves champion.

Matthysse has the more impressive list of defeated opponents. He has beaten the likes of Ruslan Provodnikov, Roberto Ortiz, John Molina Jr., Lamont Peterson, Mike Dallas Jr., AJose Olusegun, Humberto Soto, DeMarcus Corley, and Vivian Harris. He has closes losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, and had more convincing losses to Danny Garcia and Viktor Postol.

Taylor has defeated the likes of Karim Mayfield, Victor Manuel Cayo, and Raymond Serrano. His losses were to Antonio Orozco, Adrien Broner, Chris Algieri, and Prenice Brewer.

Taylor has gone 3-3 in his last six fights and has difficulty beating opponents on the highest level. Matthysse has been inactive the past two years, but has faced and defeated opponents with a much better pedigree than Taylor.

Matthysse should win this bout and should possibly give Taylor his first knockout loss.

David Lemieux (37-3) vs. Marcos Reyes (35-4); Middleweights

Many consider Lemieux to be the third best middleweight behind Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.

Unfortunately for fight fans, Lemieux has the easiest opponent on paper for the night.

Lemieux is one year younger than his opponent and will be giving up about four inches in height. Lemieux has thirty three stoppage victories on his record while Reyes only has twenty six. Both boxers have been stopped during their careers, as Lemieux has two stoppage defeats while Reyes has one.

Reyes has no notable amateur background and Lemieux is a three time Canadian National Amateur Champion.

Lemieux has defeated the likes of Curtis Stevens, Glen Tapia, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, Gabriel Rosado, Fernando Guerrero, Jose Miguel Torres, Hector Camacho Jr., and Elvin Ayala. He has losses to Marco Antonio Rubio, Joachim Alcine, and Gennady Golovkin.

Reyes only good win was to Rogelio Medina. His losses were to Elvin Ayala, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Abraham Han and Amilcar Edgardo Funes Melian.

Some fights are close calls and hard to pick. This isn’t one of them.

Lemieux will win.

Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1) vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1); Super Middleweights

This is one of the biggest bouts to be made between two Mexican boxers. One is considered by many to be the heir apparent to the throne of Floyd Mayweather Jr. when he retires. The other is the son of a legend and very successful in his own right.

Canelo was a former Junior Mexican National Boxing Champion and turned pro at the age of fifteen. Chavez only had two amateur fights and no notable amateur accomplishments.

Chavez is thirty one and is starting to near the end of his physical prime. Canelo is only twenty six and has a lot of years left in boxing during his physical prime. Chavez will have a noticeable size advantage. He will be four inches taller than his opponent and will have about a two and a half inch reach advantage.

Both boxers have some power in their hands, but Canelo appears to have the advantage. Canelo has thirty four stoppages on his resume and has stopped three of his past four opponents. Chavez has thirty two stoppages on his record, but only one of his last five opponents failed to go the distance with him.

Canelo has a very impressive list of defeated boxers and has averaged two fights a year since 2012. He has defeated the likes of Liam Smith, Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara, Alfredo Angulo, Austin Trout, Josesito Lopez, Shane Mosley, and Kermit Cintron. His lone loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Chavez has defeated the likes of Marcos Reyes, Brian Vera, Andy Lee, Marco Antonio Rubio, Peter Manfredo Jr., Sebastian Zbik, and John Duddy. He has lost to Andrzej Fonfara and Sergio Martinez.

Chavez has claimed that he is rededicated to the sport and training hard for this fight. However, his inability to stay focused for fights during training has been long documented and it’s hard to suddenly say I’m going to be in shape for this fight when you haven’t taken your training seriously in the past.

Canelo is too good and too technical for someone like Chavez to suddenly commit to the sport of boxing wholeheartedly to defeat. Chavez will have his moments, but Canelo will emerge victorious.