By Ian S Palmer
The WBC Interim Super Middleweight Title is up for grabs this Saturday, May 21st when unbeaten former WBC Super Middleweight Champion David Benavidez of Phoenix, Arizona meets former IBF Middleweight Champion David Lemieux of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The 12-rounder from Phoenix can be seen live in America on Showtime. Benavidez last fought in November when he stopped Kyrone Davis in the seventh round while Lemieux halted David Zegarra in the second round in his last outing in June.
The 25-year-old Benavidez won the vacant WBC Middleweight belt in September, 2017 with a split decision over Ronald Gavril even though he was dropped in the 12th round. He then beat Gavril by unanimous decision in a rematch five months later. He sat out for a year after testing positive for cocaine and returned in March, 2019 with a second-round stoppage of J’Leon Love.
Benavidez then regained the title by stopping Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round in September, 2019. He lost it again though, this time on the weigh scale in August, 2020 against Roamer Alexis Angulo when he came in 2.8 lbs overweight. However, he still took care of Angulo after 10 rounds and is now hoping to land another title shot against Canelo Alvarez, who is the undisputed king of the 168-lb division.
Benavidez is a hard-hitter who turned pro in 2013 after a short 15-0 amateur career. He’s boxed 115 rounds since and won the vacant NABF Junior Light Heavyweight Title in April, 2015 with a first-round TKO of Rollin Williams. He enters the match with a perfect record of 25-0 with 22 Ko’s and owns quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 88 per cent, but Gavril took him the distance in both of their fights.
Benavidez likes to slug it out and that means he’s not really the hardest guy to hit, but he has a decent chin even though Gavril decked him. He stands just over 6-feet-tall with a reach of 74.5 inches and his biggest wins so far have been over Davis, Ellis, Angulo, Dirrell, Love, Gavril, Rogelio (Porky) Medina, and Denis Douglin.
In his last major bout in 2017, the 33-year-old Lemieux was thoroughly outboxed and somewhat embarrassed over 12 rounds by former WBO Champ Billy Joe Saunders. He then came back with a 12-round unanimous decision win over little known Karim Achour in May, 2018 to rebuild his confidence and then destroyed Spike O’Sullivan in 164 seconds four months later.
Since then he’s beaten Max Bursak by 10-round split decision in a slugfest in December, 2019 which saw Lemieux hit the canvas in the first and fifth rounds while Bursak was down in round six. He then stopped Francy Ntetu in five rounds and David Zegarra in two. Lemieux hasn’t changed his style over the years as he still doesn’t want to box anybody, he just wants to knock them out. He now owns a record of 43-4 with 36 Ko’s.
When you consider the fact he owns a suspect chin it makes Lemieux a very fan-friendly fighter. He enjoyed a good amateur career and has also won the Quebec Boxing Council Super Welterweight Title and Canadian Boxing Federation Super Middleweight title as a pro as well as the NABF, WBO NABO, WBC Continental Americas, and WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Titles.
However, Lemieux is best known for once being the IBF Middleweight king when he beat Hassan N’Dam by unanimous decision for the vacant IBF crown in 2015. He’s a hard-hitting brawler with a lot of power as his current knockout ratio stands at 76.6 per cent. While he usually blasts most of his opponents out, he’s also been stopped himself a couple of times.
Marco Antonio Rubio halted him in the seventh round in 2011 and Gennady Golovkin stopped him in the eighth round in 2015. His other loss also came in 2011 when Joachim Alcine beat him by a 12-round majority decision. Lemieux made his pro debut in 2007 and has fought 195 rounds since then. He’s just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70-inch reach which means he gives up three inches in height and 4.5-inches in reach to Benavidez.
He isn’t a naturally-gifted boxer, but Lemieux works hard for everything he has. He possesses heart and power and is quite entertaining. To put it bluntly, boxing is basically Lemieux’s weak point and slugging it out is his strong point. That’s why he often has trouble when meeting opponents with good boxing skills.
He’s beaten some journeymen along the way but fallen short when stepping up in class against Rubio, Alcine, Golovkin and Saunders. However he stopped Curtis Stevens by a sensational third-round knockout in 2017, stopped Gabriel Rosado in 10 rounds in 2014, stopped Glen Tapia in four in 2016 and beat Marcos Reyes by 10-round unanimous decision in May, 2016.
Prediction…
Benavidez and Lemieux are two sluggers who have the potential of staging a fight-of-the-year candidate this weekend. Both boxers can be dropped and both have more than enough power to cause damage. Lemieux gives up a lot of height and reach though and will need to work his way inside to get within range. This should be a thriller as long as it lasts but make sure you don’t blink or it could all be over. Lemieux has a puncher’s chance but I’m going with Benavidez.
