Out of the ring since October of 2020 and having his third fight as a super-middleweight, Canadian banger David Lemieux returns to action on Friday night. The 32 year old former IBF middleweight champion will face David Zegarra of Peru. Lemieux, 42-4(35) is looking to put on a show against his 36 year old opponent when he meets him in Mexico this week.
Lemieux still has ambition and he still wants a shot at Canelo Alvarez. Speaking with RingTV.com, the former champion who has given us a number of electrifying KO’s over the years, says he is looking to be explosive during Friday night’s fight.
“It’s a good fight,” Lemieux said of Friday’s assignment. “I’m hungry to fight. I plan on looking strong and explosive. I’m going to do whatever I need to do to look great and send a message to the super-middleweight division. I’ve been targeting Canelo for a long time now. Styles make fights, and I think it would be a hell of a show versus Canelo.”
But would it still? Maybe a few years ago, perhaps down at 160 pounds, a Canelo-Lemieux would have been a potentially great fight, and a pretty tough one to pick. But now, after a number of less than impressive performances along with bouts of inactivity, is Lemieux anywhere close to the top of the list of fighters you want to see fight the Mexican superstar?
Then again, Lemieux does carry that lethal punching power and, with an additional highlight reel KO or two under his belt, maybe the fans would get behind a Lemieux challenge of Canelo. It has to start on Friday. Lemieux must look good against Zegarra, a guy who has been stopped three times and is coming off a loss. The upcoming fight represents a big step up in class for the man from Peru.
Lemieux should be able to get the stoppage win, sometime in the fight’s first half. Anything other than a stoppage win will not be enough. On this, Lemieux seems to agree.