By James Slater – As fight fans know, Canadian power-puncher/red-hot prospect David Lemieux, 25-0(24) will meet Mexico’s experienced Marco Antonio Rubio in April, in a eliminator for the WBC middleweight crown. Lemieux, still only 22, has shown frightening punching power and as such most fans feel he will starch the 30-year-old former title challenger from Mexico. But Rubio, 49-5-1(42) can bang himself. Could we see an interesting, competitive fight on April 8th?
Rubio disappointed in his title challenge of Kelly Pavlik a couple of years ago, even appearing to freeze up mentally in his big chance. Since then, Rubio has won six in a row, and he has looked pretty good. As big a favourite as Lemieux is against him, the Canadian would be wise not to overlook Rubio. We have yet to see Lemiuex’s chin tested, and against Rubio he is definitely going in with his biggest-punching rival yet..
Rubio has heavy hands, as does his eight-years younger rival, and if he can land a bomb on Lemieux’s chin we may get our answer over whether or not the seeming “sure thing” is indeed so. If he does have a good chin, Lemiuex, who has speed, accuracy, patience and, above all, power, could well be the complete fighter. The only other question mark next to him is regarding his stamina. Having only gone past 2-rounds four times, we have yet to see how full Lemieux’s gas tank is.
It’s unlikely we will get an answer to this question in April. Rubio’s best shot of winning is to land something serious early on and take Lemieux out. The Canadian, on the other hand, ALWAYS looks for a quick KO, as is his natural fighting instinct. So either way, whoever wins, we will almost certainly not be seeing a long fight in April.
However long the action does last, the intensity and drama should be quite something though. Both guys have so much at stake. The winner will be in line to get a shot at the WBC middleweight title (whether it’s against real champ Sergio Martinez, or Sebastian Zbik, who the WBC recently chose to award their alphabelt to), and will give their all to win in Montreal, Canada.
Let’s presume for the minute that Lemieux does pass his biggest test to date and beats Rubio: won’t there be some exciting times ahead for the 160-pound division? Lemiuex-Zbik will be interesting (if Zbik can get past Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, who he is rumoured to be fighting next if Chavez can get past Billy Lyell next Saturday), while a Lemieux challenge of linear king Martinez would be a massively intriguing fight if it happens.
Are we about to see a new star, a new dominant force and a new, long-reigning middleweight champion of the world? Only Marco Antonio Rubio stands in the way of Lemieux’s first crack at a version of the title!
For the record, I see Lemieux jumping right on the often slow-starting Rubio, and taking him out in style inside three-rounds.