By Dan Ambrose: David Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs) is tired of being insulted by WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs), and he can’t wait to see how well he backs up his words this Saturday night when the two of them step inside the ring for their fight on HBO.
(Photo credit Star Boxing/Dan McCabe)
Saunders has been calling Lemieux “frog” and “short legs.” Lemieux says he doesn’t understand the things Saunders has been saying o him, but the comments have irritated him nonetheless. The bad news for Saunders is Lemieux is upset enough to the point where he’s going to be trying to take his head off.
It appears that Lemieux wants to make an example out of Saunders like he did in his brutal 3rd round knockout win over Curtis Stevens. Lemieux was nailing Stevens with huge shots leading up to the knockout. If the knockout punch didn’t get him the 3rd, it wouldn’t have mattered. Lemieux was going to KO Stevens sooner or later. We could see the same thing happen to Saunders on Saturday.
“The talk is done now. It’s time to walk the walk,” said Lemieux. “Saunders has a strong jaw. He can put those words together and call me frog, short legs. It’s funny. Let’s see how well you back up those words on Saturday. I’m well aware of your abilities. I hope you’re very well aware of mine. I’m not just a puncher. You’ll see on Saturday. People like to see blood and big punches. That’s what they’re going to see on Saturday on my behalf,” said Lemieux.
Lemieux sounds like he really wants to get even with Saunders. Being taunted by Saunders repeatedly is something that Lemieux has not taken in stride. Lemieux doesn’t realize that Saunders does this same trick to all of his opponents in order to get an edge over them. Once the fights are over, Saunders is usually respectful of his opponents.
Chris Eubank Jr. is one of the rare cases where Saunders wasn’t respectful of him after the fight. Lemieux would be better off keeping his cool and fighting as he normally does. That’s unlikely though. The damage has been done by Saunders, and Lemieux is going to be looking to hurt him on Saturday for as long as the fight lasts.
“This is a boxer vs. a puncher,” said Saunders. “I’ve been in the ring 25 times. 6 or 7 of them I’ve been an underdog big time. I’m excited to get in the ring and put on a display. I want the winner of Golovkin-Canelo if the rematch happens or even Canelo. After I deal with Lemieux on Saturday, I’ll be happy to sit down with Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday and sign for that fight before I leave the country. I know I’ll have to be on it. There’s no switching off. I’ll be on it from round 1 until whenever it ends. David has to come from round 1 to try and knock me out, because when he’s hitting fresh air, and he’s very injury prone. What I don’t want is David’s team to have an excuse. He’s a good fighter. He mixed it with Golovkin at the very elite level. Some are just not good enough, and you’re not good enough. Am I good enough? We’ll see. I know I can deal with him. Then I want Golovkin and Canelo to see where I really am,” said Saunders.
Saunders isn’t going to get a chance to fight Canelo before Golovkin does on May 5. Canelo and GGG are said to be close to finalizing their rematch for May 5. If Saunders gets a fight against GGG or Canelo, it’ll happen after the Canelo-GGG 2 rematch. Saunders is not going to take either of their places.
