Billy Joe Saunders vs. David Lemieux next Sat.

Boxingnews24.com

By Tim Royner: WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs) will be defending against mandatory challenger David Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs) next Saturday on December 16 on HBO World Championship Boxing at the Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

The telecast starts at 9:40 p.m. ET/PT. This is fight in which Saunders is going to need to be running on all 8 cylinders for him to win. The Saunders that we’ve seen laboring to points wins lately against Willie Monroe Jr. and Artur Akavov won’t be able to deal with the pressure and the power of the 28-year-old Lemieux. Saunders won’t last long enough for him to make it through the 12 rounds against Lemieux if he doesn’t fight the best he ever has. Saunders is a smart fighter, but Lemieiux’s power could override his ring IQ.

Lemieux will be coming into the fight on Saturday with his 80% knockout percentage compared to Saunders’ less impressive 48%. There’s a whopping difference in punching ability between the two of them. Lemieux also has the better stamina of the two. Saunders has been fading by the 6th round in his last 3 fights. That’s going to be a problem for him if he does that against Lemieux.

Getting tired against Lemieux could spell disaster for Saunders, because he’s going to need to stay on the move and not be in position to get hit. It doesn’t matter if Saunders isn’t trapped against the ropes like we saw with James DeGale last Saturday night against Caleb Truax. Lemieux is capable of scoring knockouts even when his opponents are in the center of the ring. Lemieux doesn’t need to have his guys against the ropes for him to bang them out. Obviously it helps Lemieux if he can have Saunders right in front of him on the ropes, but he doesn’t need him to be there.

Saunders has little chance of winning by a knockout over Lemieux. Saunders isn’t a puncher, he doesn’t have major league power, and he’s never knocked out a 1st tier middleweight during his career. He’s never knocked out a 2nd tier fighter either. Saunders’ 12 knockouts have come against poor opposition. Saunders will have to go the full 12 rounds for him to have a chance of getting the ‘W’ against Lemieux. It’s been proven to be difficult to go 12 rounds against Lemieux.

Only 2 fighters have gone 12 rounds against Lemieux during his 10-year pro career and those guys are Hassan N’Dam and Joachim Alcine. Lemieux knocked N’Dam down 4 times in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision on June 20, 2015. Lemieux lost a controversial 12 round unanimous decision to Alcine on December 10, 2011. Alcine was fortunate to get the win in that fight, as Lemieux did the better work and dominated most of the fight. Alcine was a popular fighter in Canada at the time he fought Lemieux.

In the undercard, middleweight Gary O’Sullivan (26-2, 18 KOs) fights Antoine Douglas (22-1-1, 16 KO) are scheduled for 10 rounds for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title.

“I fancy Bill to win it,” said promoter Frank Warren said to PSB Sports about Saunder’s title defense against Lemieux this Saturday. “It’s going to be a really tough fight. He’s going into the guy’s backyard. It’s not going to be an easy job. Bill has the class. He has the good boxing brain. He has a good chin. He can punch when he wants to. More importantly, he’s mentally in a good place as well as physically. He’s in really good condition. I’m hoping he can put in a good performance next week. Once we get it out of the way, we’ll be ready to go next year,” said Warren.

6️⃣ days until our Christmas cracker between @bjsaunders_ and @lemieuxboxing. Who wins this classic boxer v puncher match-up? 🔥 #SaundersLemieuxpic.twitter.com/eL64mXjIE4

— BoxNation (@boxnationtv) December 10, 2017

Saunders has a few strikes against him in going into this fight with Lemieux. First off, the fight is taking place in Lemieux’s home country of Canada. Lemieux is going to have the boxing fans on his side at Place Bell on December 16. The cheering from the fans will encourage Lemieux to push harder for the knockout. The cheering may also effect the scoring by the judges, causing them to give rounds to Lemieux that they might otherwise have given to Saunders if the fight were to take place outside of Canada. Saunders has looked nothing like a world champion in his 2 title defenses of his World Boxing Organization 160 lb. title against Artur Akavov and Willie Monroe Jr. Saunders looks more like just an average contender nowadays rather than a world champion. The division has improved greatly since Saunders beat Andy Lee by a 12 round majority decision 2 years ago in December 2015 to win the WBO title. Saunders is more of a contender level fighter at this point in his career than a world champion. You hate to call Saunders a paper champion, but it’s hard not to. With Gennady Golovkin only 3 of the 4 world titles at middleweight, Saunders is doesn’t have nearly the same power or boxing skills compared to him.

Saunders, 28, has done a good job of losing weight for the fight. He doesn’t resemble the fighter that stood next to Lemieux at the kickoff press conference 2 months ago. Saunders has trimmed down his physique from the combination of cardio and a lean diet. The weight loss could hurt Saunders in the power department because he’s going to have even less punching power than he normally does. Without power, Saunders won’t have anything to frighten Lemieux away to keep him hones for the fight. That’s what Lemieux is counting on.