By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten middleweight contender David Lemieux (23-0, 22 KO’s) will be taking on 32-year-old Hector Camacho Jr. (52-3-1, 28 KO’s) on October 29th at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. This is a fight that should give some kind of indication whether Lemieux is for real or not. Thus far, Lemieux has been carefully matched against B level fighters and it’s difficult to see if he can actually fight or not. He does seem to have good power, but his defense is completely missing. Lemieux goes out and tries to knock his opponents immediately.

It’s worked up to this point, but if faces someone that knows how to box, move and avoid his mostly short punches on the inside, Lemieux could end up getting exposed. He looks really raw at this point. However, Lemieux should be able to get by the 32-year-old Camacho without too many problems. Camacho Jr. at one time was a hot prospect nine years ago. Unfortunately, he’s failed to live up to expectations.

After losing a 10 round decision to Omar Gabriel Weis in 2002, Camacho Jr. focused on fighting exclusively B level fighters for the next four years until getting beaten by Andrey Tsurkan an 8th round stoppage in 2006. Since that loss, Camacho has fought nothing but 2nd tier opposition and yet he suffered another defeat, this time to Don Juan Futrell in 2007. Camacho hasn’t lost since that fight, but then again he’s fought lower level opponents. He’s gained weight over the years and fights at middleweight. He looks chunky at that weight and not nearly as quick or as powerful as he was when he was fighting at light welterweight.

Lemieux is listed at 5’10 1/2″ but looks closer to 5’8″ or perhaps 5’9″ at best, is coming off of a 1st round knockout of Elvin Ayala in June. That was a good win for Lemieux. However, he showed the same problems with his defense that he’s had in other fights. He just doesn’t seem capable of defending himself. His offense is basically his defense. Unless he fixes this problem, he’s likely to start suffering defeats when he’s finally put in with a 1st tier fighter with any kind of ability. I don’t see him at a top five middleweight, even though he’s ranked #3 WBC and #4 WBA.