By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten middleweight prospect David Lemieux (18-0, 18 KO’s) kept his perfect knockout string alive with a 1st round knockout over former contestant from The Contender Donny McCrary (24-10-2, 13 KO’s) on Saturday night at the Montreal Casino, in Montreal, Canada. Lemieux, only 20, knocked McCrary down twice in the 1st round. The bout was stopped after the second knockdown, a hard right hand to the head that twisted McCrary’s head around sending him down back first on the canvas. Referee Marlon Wright then stopped the bout at 2:07 of the round.
McCrary had been fighting fairly effectively up to the point of the first knockdown of the round, landing combinations and moving well. However, Lemieux caught up with McCrary and tagged him with a powerful right hand to the jaw that sent McCrary down on the canvas. He sat there for a moment, swearing to himself about the knockdown before getting to his feet and resuming the fight. Lemieux wasted no time in going right after him, landing a hard right hand to the midsection followed by a big right to the jaw that sent McCrary down for the second and final time in the round.
Lemieux’s power is something special. Although he’s been matched softly by his management, there’s no denying his one-punch power. He’s capable of flattening opponents with either hand. His boxing skills are limited, but with his power, he seems to more than make up for what he lacks. His height and reach are factors that may limit him in the future, however.
Only 5’10 ½”, Lemieux is likely to fill out eventually and become a super middleweight or possibly a light heavyweight. His height and lack of hand speed will hurt him when he moves into the higher weight classes.
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In other action, unbeaten welterweight contender Antonin Decarie (23-0, 7 KO’s) stopped American Terrance Cauthen (33-6, 9 KO’s) in the 10th round with one second to go in the fight. Decarie, 26, a fighter with little power, dropped Cauthen twice in the fight, once in the 8th and a final time in the 10th with right hands. The fight was stopped by referee Michael Griffin at 2:59 of the 10th after Decarie dropped Cauthen with a hard right hand that left him on his back near the ropes.
Although Cauthen, 33, popped back to his feet almost immediately following the knockdown, he staggered around too much for the likes of referee Griffin, who then stopped the bout. Ranked number #3 in the World Boxing Organization welterweight division, Decarie out-boxed through much of the fight, staggering him in last seconds of the 2nd round and then knocking him down late in the 8th. The bout was marred by the constant clinching initiated by Cauthen, who looked like he was in the survival mode through most of the 10 round fight.
Although Decarie got the win, he looked far from impressive to me. Indeed, his inflated number #3 ranking in the WBO seems to be much too high of a ranking from my perspective. He looks like a bottom 15 fighter to me, or perhaps 2nd tier fighter. His lack of power and seems to be a problem for him and when he eventually gets a title shot against Miguel Cotto or whoever eventually holds down the WBO welterweight crown, I don’t like Decarie’s chances one bit.
I can see Cotto or Manny Pacquiao taking him out in two or three rounds if they take their time. Ideally, Decarie needs to go after a softer welterweight champion, someone like World Boxing Council welterweight champion Andre Berto. I doubt Decarie would last long with him either, but at least the fight might go five or six rounds before Berto takes Decarie out.
With this win, Decarie holds onto his little known World Boxing Organization NABO welterweight title.