By Dan Ambrose: Number #3 WBC/WBA middleweight contender David Lemieux (23-0, 22 KO’s) will be defending his World Boxing Council International middleweight strap tonight against 32-year-old Hector Camacho Jr. (52-3-1, 28 KO’s) at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. Lemieux, only 21, won’t be fighting for any of the major titles for some time to come, because his manager wants to wait until he’s had at least 40+ fights before he takes on one of the champions. That’s a smart thing to do because Lemieux looks vulnerable on defense and undersized in terms of height and reach. Although is listed at 5’10 1/2″, his real height is likely around 5’8″, and his arms are very short for a middleweight. It’s going to be interesting to see how tall Lemieux is compared to the 5’8″ Camacho Jr.

My guess is both of them will be the same height, because Lemieux looks really short for a middleweight. Lemieux knocked out his first 20 opponents in his career until being forced to go 10 rounds against Jason Naugler this year in February. Lemieux is still fighting strictly B level opponents, so one can be fooled into thinking he’s better than he really is. I think Lemieux maybe a good middleweight some day, but right now, I see him at the bottom of the middleweight pack around the 20 spot.

I have no idea why the WBC and WBC have him ranked so high, but I don’t see it as good for him to be ranked this high this soon in his career and without having fought anyone worth mentioning. Recently, Lemieux Elvin Ayala in the 1st round in June, but Ayala looked to be in bad physical shape and didn’t make the weight for the fight. Before that, Lemieux had defeated Walid Smichet in the 2nd round. That was perhaps Lemieux most impressive win on his resume because Smichet gave middleweight contender John Duddy huge problems two years ago in the process of losing by a 10 round decision.