Lemieux vs. Guerrero & Lacy vs. Beterbiev on May 24th at Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada

By Boxing News - 04/08/2014 - Comments

lemieux334By Allan Fox: #10 IBF, #11 WBO, David Lemieux (31-2, 29 KO’s) will be back in the ring next month against 27-year-old former world title challenger Fernando Guerrero (26-2, 19 KO’s) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds on the undercard of the title fight between WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson vs. Andrzej Fonfara at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Lemieux is taking a considerable step up in class in taking this fight, as Guerrero can fight a little bit as he’s shown in the past with wins over Ossie Duran, Derrick Findley, Gabriel Rosado, Michael Walker, Jessie Nicklow, and Ishe Smith. Guerrero has run into problems in knockout losses to Grady Brewer and Peter Quillin. You have to wonder whether Guerrero’s ability to take a good shot has diminished since his loss to Quillin.

Lemieux can really punch, and if Guerrero isn’t able to get to him early, it’s quite possible that we could see Lemieux score a knockout. That’s obviously what Lemieux’s handlers are counting on happening because they wouldn’t have made this fight if they didn’t think that Guerrero’s chin would betray him again.

Lemieux is coming off a tougher than expected 7th round TKO win over Jose Miguel Torres from last November. Lemieux dominated the fight, but he was hit a lot and there was a point in the fight where it looked like Lemiuex was going to taste defeat again. He was beaten in back to back fights against Marco Antonio Rubio and Jochim Alcine in 2011. Lemieux has been on a steady diet of soft opposition ever since the loss to Alcine in his last 7 fights.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Lemieux responds to facing a halfway decent fighter in Guerrero. There are obviously much better fighters at 160 than Guerrero, so if Lemieux struggles against him or losses to him, then it’s going to be a signal to his promoter that he’s going to need more work before they risk putting him in with good opposition.

Also on the card will be former IBF super middleweight champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy (26-4, 18 KO’s) facing unbeaten former two-time Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev (4-0, 4 KO’s) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds. Lacy, 36, is going to need to raise his game for this fight because Beterbiev is an excellent fighter with superb amateur credentials and good power. If Lacy isn’t able to find some of his old power, he’s going to have problems.

Lacy was out of the ring from 2010 until making a comeback in defeating Martin Verdin by a 3rd round TKO last November. Lacy is still trying to turn his career around after suffering losses to Joe Calzaghe, Jermain Taylor, Roy Jones Jr. and Dhafir Smith. Lacy injured his left shoulder in a fight against Vitaliy Tsypko in 2006 and he’s had problems since then with his career.

Beterbiev, 29, got a late start to his pro career after spending a lot of time in the amateur ranks in Russia. He turned pro last year in June and has four quick knockouts. He has a win over one notable fighter in Rayco Saunders last year in September in stopping him in the 3rd round.
The card also has the following fighters against still to be determined opponents:
Mikael Zewski vs. TBA

Kevin Bizier vs. TBA

Oscar Rivas vs. TBA: Rivas is a small heavyweight who defeated Kubrat Pulev in the 2008 Olympics by an 11-5 score. Rivas, from Colombia, used fast combinations and a lot of inside work to smother Pulev’s offense entirely. Pulev wasn’t able to use his huge size advantage because Of Rivas staying close and throwing flurries that Pulev was too slow to stop. Rivas kind of exposed Pulev in this fight as someone who can’t do much when his opponents are throwing a lot of shots. Rivas would likely still have a good chance of beating Pulev if they were to fight in the pro ranks, because he’s got the fighting style to give him nightmares.

Sebastien Bouchard vs. TBA

Yves Ulysse Jr vs. TBA

Eleider Alvarez vs. TBA



Comments are closed.