Billy Joe Saunders Takes David Lemieux to School in Easy Win!
Billy Joe Saunders, 26-0, 12 KO’s, traveled to North America on Saturday, December 16th, and defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title in a route of Canada’s David Lemieux, 38-4, 33 KO’s. Saunders had been constantly ridiculed for having only defended his title twice since picking it up in late 2015. This fight with Lemieux was viewed as a huge task for Saunders and many didn’t think he would make it the full 12 rounds, let alone win.
Saunders, though, put on a brilliant display and often worked the ring as a matador with Lemieux trailing and missing widely on his shots. Judges were hard pressed to find a single round to legitimately give to Lemieux, through two someone how did. Saunders was in enemy territory and stood his ground valiantly. With the win, Saunders has made a case that he’s at no worse than the third best middleweight in the world.
Lemieux was essentially red hot since his loss to Gennady Golovkin in 2015. He was widely considered to be a legitimate threat to Golovkin in a rematch, or Canelo Alvarez had they fought. Saunders has put a dent in those thoughts and showed that for as much power that poise that Lemieux brings to the table, he can be thoroughly outboxed. This should shake up things in a major way at middleweight for 2018 as a new middleweight thoroughbred has arrived. The winner of Golovkin Vs Canelo II could be in his future. Until then, Saunders deserves much credit for proving that he may very well be the biggest threat to the middleweight throne. We shall let the future decide.
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