Underrated performance. GGG took his time but David ran through him yet everyone acted like Lemieux was washed at 33.
I watched Lemieux's first fight at 168 live, against Maxime Bursak, and as early as the first few rounds I knew the guy wasn't built for 168. This fight was a mismatch.
Beating Lemiuex isnt remotely impressive considering he didnt have a meaningful win in 5 years and the fight itself took place at 168. Shameful thread
I mean, its about what Id expect when a career 160lber goes against a high level guy who eventually fights to cruiserweight.
Lemieux was overweight and a shell at SMW. I was always impressed with his one punch power at 160 - he hit harder than GGG.
The way he broke down and dispatched of Anthony Yarde, a career 175lbs guy who rocked Beterbiev, was fast, strong and athletic and stylistically should have given Benevidez issues since Benavidez is a come forward fighter, moving up may I add, and Yarde is a fast and explosive counterpuncher. That was far more impressive and a better performance when you factor this in.
Bursak wasn't a bum, he was solid, and Lemieux was 3-0 at 168 with 2 knockouts. He was not at his best at 168 but fighters move up all the time out of their best division, yet their opponent still gets decent credit unlike Benavidez who got zero. Most of Spence's best wins were against guys fighting out of their division and he did not run through them like Benavidez did. It was a mismatch only because Benavidez was that good.
You can see the massive size difference in the screenshot. Lemieux wasn't even a big MW, in fact Golovkin looked quite a bit bigger and Golovkin himself is not a big MW. If Lemieux didn't have the power he had, they would have told him to lose weight and fight at 154, even 147. Because he was smaller than basically everyone he fought at MW.
