By Ian S Palmer
Former world middleweight titleholder David Lemieux is back in action this Saturday, September 15th at the T-mobile Arena in Las Vegas when he takes on Gary O’Sullivan of Cork, Ireland. The 12-round bout is on the undercard of the Golovkin vs Alvarez rematch and can be seen in the U.S on HBO pay-per-view as well as on BT Sports pay-per-view in the UK. Lemieux last fought in may when he beat
Karim Achour by a 12-round unanimous decision for the WBC Francophone, and WBC International Middleweight Crowns. O’Sullivan also fought in May and beat stopped Berlin Abreu after the fourth round.
In his last major bout, the 29-year-old Lemieux was thoroughly outboxed and somewhat embarrassed over 12 rounds by unbeaten WBO Champ Billy Joe Saunders last December. His win against Achour was a confidence builder and he’ll now be in for a stiff test against O’Sullivan. Lemieux had 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, he’s best known for once being the IBF Middleweight king.
Lemieux enters the bout with a record of 39-4 along with 33 big Kos. He’s a hard-hitting brawler with a lot of power and somewhat questionable chin. He usually blasts most of his opponents out, but he’s also been stopped himself a couple of times as 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.
He turned pro in 2007 and has fought 179 rounds since then and owns a current knockout ratio of 77 per cent. He’s beaten some journeymen along the way and lost when stepping up in class against Rubio, Alcine, Golovkin and Saunders. However he stopped Curtis Stevens by a sensational third-round knockout last year, stopped Gabriel Rosado in 10 rounds in 2014, beat Hassan N’Dam by unanimous decision for the vacant IBF crown in 2015, stopped Glen Tapia in four in 2016 and beat Marcos Reyes by 10-round unanimous decision in May, 2016.
Lemieux is just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 70-inch reach. He isn’t a naturally-gifted boxer, but he works hard for everything he has, possesses heart and power and is quite entertaining. His chin is questionable though and that’s one of the reasons he’s so exciting. He isn’t interested in going to the scorecards and will be looking to stop O’Sullivan since he’s a far better slugger than he is a boxer as Saunders exposed in December. Basically, boxing is Lemieux’s weak point and slugging is his strong point.
O’Sullivan is now 34 years old and will climb through the ropes with a mark of 28-2 including 20 Kos. He turned pro in 2008 and has 127 rounds of experience under his belt. Along the way he’s won the American Fighting Organization Super Welterweight Title as well as the Irish, WBO International, WBO Inter-Continental, and WBA-NABA Middleweight Titles. He’s 5-feet-10-inches tall with an unlisted reach, so is just a half-inch taller than Lemieux. He also has pretty good power in his hands with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent.
Like Lemieux, he’s also been stopped as he failed to come out for the eighth round against Chris Eubank Jr. In their December, 2015 bout. His other loss was a unanimous decision to Billy Joe Saunders for the vacant WBO International Middleweight Title in July of 2013. O’Sullivan struggles when stepping up in class with his best wins coming against the likes of Matthew Hall, Milton Nunez, Melvin Betancourt, Jaime Barboza and Antoine Douglas. O’Sullivan’s also a fan-friendly boxer whose aggressive style has got him this far.
Prediction…
This should be an all-action fight that could suddenly change momentum with one big punch from either man. They both have a lot of power and shaky chins. Somebody will likely be stopped sooner or later and I have the feeling it’ll be Lemieux who has his hand raised when it’s all over.
