One clean punch. That's all it took for Gates to start running away... each and every time David tried to settle at mid-range following the first punch that connected, Purnell was desperately trying to get out of range. TKO 2 as a result of Gates telling the ref he didn't want to continue on. Possible miscommunication between him and the ref, but what the hell... Gates felt the power and started to run. Took a knee twice. No surprise here. This was the very last time David faced sub-world lvl opposition. BTW, Renan St-Juste put Sebastien Demers to sleep in the 2nd round. Hopefully St-Juste gets a shot at a top 10 SMW as of a result of the KO. "All successful local fighters got a title shot. (Bute, Pascal) Dorin, Lontchi, Demers all got a title shot. I believe I've done what's necessary to get the same kind of opportunity."
Gates his a disgrace! we knew that Lemieux will be wining but Gates didn't even try! St-Juste diserve a title shot but i think it will be at 160lbs , it was his first fight at 168lbs in years and he only did it to face Demers! St-Juste should rematch Marcus Upshaw too !
Agree but they wanted to keep Lemieux active because his next fight will only be in April agains't Rubio so....:think It's getting hard for them to find a decent opponent , they will have to bring the $$$ to get good opposition!
Long Time Trainer Eddie Futch has one of the greatest quotes about the progress of young fighters. "If you continue to match a Hot Young Prospect against Soft Opponents, the only thing that will improve is the fighters record...And NOT the Fighter". Ishe Smith would be THE PERFECT opponent for Lemieux. Smith has face alot of Hot Young Un-defeated Prospects (Joel Julio, Fernando Guerrero, Danny Jacob, Pawel Wolak, Sechew Powell, Sergro Mora and David Estrada) And took them ALL 12 ROUNDS. Lemieux needs to be matched versus a fighter that will make him GO ROUNDS.
Smith was in line for Lemieux but wanted more time to train and i agree with him! Next Lemieux fight will be agains't Rubio , good step-up IMO!
post fight interview Russ Anber talks midway, interesting. Maybe someone wants to translate? [yt]Vzc7mKhoh0c[/yt]
The Lemieux fight was a let-down, but the Usmanee-Navarrete match that preceded it was an excellent action fight--worth watching if it ever becomes available.