****David Lemieux: The Long Road to Middleweight Greatness****

I searched for a tribute/fan thread on Lemieux, and didn't find one. Here it is.

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I think David will remain at 160 for a while, at least for another 2-3 years. I can't see GYM pushing him up to SMW as long as he's building his MW resume up. The disadvantage in reach could be annoying at 168, and David would have to work on foot speed, cutting the ring against bigger/quicker opponents etc. That's why this thread will focus on his run @ 160.

I know it started a couple yrs ago, but I thought Ayala and Camacho were the most relevant fights to cover for now.

Lemieux-Ayala build-up, June 9th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232330

Lemieux-Ayala RBR page (4), June 11th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232845&page=4

"Lemieux - I'm on board" 10-page long thread, June 11-13th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232859

First iteration of the Lemieux-Rubio eliminator, June 30th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236890

Fat Dan announces the Lemieux-Camacho deal, Sept 29th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257284

Lemieux-Camacho build-up, October 8th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259141

Golovkin-Rubio rumors, October 26th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262926

Lemieux-Camacho RBR page (12), October 29th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=262563&page=12

Lemieux-Camacho post-fight conference, October 29th 2010
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRX6pu9bDxk[/ame]
^^^^
Quotes:

DL: "I had an exceptional camp. I trained with guys like Antonin Décarie, Felix Diaz and Odlanier Solis under Pedro Diaz' supervision. During camp, we box, we eat, we sleep. That's all we do. That's all there is."

YM:
-"David was telling me 'One exciting round is better than twelve boring ones!'... we're surprised. Camacho is an experienced, skilled boxer. We thought David would go rounds with him, turned out to be a 1st round KO. What we take out of this.. well, is that anybody at 160 or 168 who gets hit by David will fall."

-"Our Fast & Furious series will end with David earning himself a title shot, either in February or in April. He's now ranked pretty high (at the WBC), so whoever gets the chance to face him in an eliminator may think he's still untested, think it's a winnable fight."

-"David could be mixing it up with the Pavliks, Martinez', Williams' of the division, his trainers confirmed it to me and we can see it in the ring. However his notoriety, popularity in the US is not up where it has to be for these fights to happen. Before the Ayala fight, David was #23 at the WBC. After the fight, they bumped him to #3."

-"This fight was on ESPN3... we've received other international broadcasting offers for David's fights, too. We've had talks with both HBO & Showtime, but we'll have to wait until halfway in the year to get a date for a fight on either network. David is making a loooot of noise right now. He could very well be in a championship fight in June, and our objective is to give him notoriety and exposure so one of the two networks brings the fight upon him."

-"You see, David comes to fight and... he's not overly aggressive. Things happen as they come, he throws combinations but isn't necessarily looking for the KO or looking to rip his opponent's head off. Every time he connects with power punches, his opponent's attitude/approach changes."

Second and current iteration of the Lemieux-Rubio eliminator, November 3rd 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264741

Lemieux-Smith rumors (for Dec), November 19th 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269073

Lemieux wants Martinez in 2011, November 22nd 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269905

Lemieux says he's ok with fights against Martinez, Pirog.. December 2nd 2010
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272698

Lemieux-Rubio signed for 8 Apr 11, January 21st 2011 (latest news so no ESB archive set up here yet)
http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/lemieux-rubio-set-for-april-8-73097#more-73097
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The Competition...

WBC: Sergio Martinez, Sebastian Zbik, JCC Jr
WBA: Felix Sturm, Gennady Golovkin, Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam
WBO: Dmitry Pirog, Fernando Guerrero, Matthew Macklin
IBF: Sebastian Sylvester, Daniel Gaele
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Even though it is pretty early in the year, and keeping in mind his status of mandatory in case of victory over Rubio, I don't necessarily see Lemieux getting a shot at the WBC title by the end of 2011. Universum, Top Rank, Sergio Martinez, the two German titlists, etc can all delay David's time to shine in a title bout. To early 2012, worst case scenario IMO.

I expect to see him at the top of the MW division by 2014. Biggest punch at 160 in YEARS. :bbb

 

Gents, since this is about David gunning for a championship, how do you evaluate his chances against each of the respective titlist if he were to fight one of them in the summer? For discussion sake.

vs Zbik/Chavez Jr: 99% -- sorry to be so blunt about it, I just don't see any clear, decisive advantage for either over David

vs Martinez: 30% -- too much movement for David at this point, decent firepower and fabulous handspeed

vs Golovkin (let's be real, Sturm is Superman): 50% -- I don't think Golovkin has faced enough tough opposition to make him progress, and both are powerful & accurate

vs Pirog: 60% -- damn right. Pirog can move, he's awkward, he can bang, but David's athleticism is around top notch and this turns into a slugfest either can win, with a slight edge to Lemieux because of his workrate. Again, similar power IMO.

vs Sylvester: 60% -- Sylvester isn't the best technician out there, but he's relentless. Decent power in both hands. David outlands him for a late TKO.

:think

 

Cheers :bbb

Do you see his chances vs GGG/Pirog increasing over time? Say same time next year?

I don't necessarily see him steamrolling over Sylvester, and you're probably more accurate about vs Martinez