Once it became official the Billy Joe Saunders would be defending his WBO middleweight title against David Lemieux on December 16 on HBO, there was no time wasted in the two fighters getting in little quips about one another. So in the next couple of months leading up to their fight, you can expect plenty of pre-fight trash talk, which is already underway.

“Lemieux looks good against ‘B level’ fighters, but he is now getting in the ring with someone who is far more superior and slick than anyone he has ever been in with,” Saunders said. “I don’t just want the dog meat that (unified world champion Gennady) Golovkin has left behind, I want the dog himself. And when I come through this fight, I will have (Golovkin). (Lemieux) is a mandatory, and we’ve agreed to a deal to go over to foreign soil and get it on.”

The fight between Saunders and Lemieux will be held on Lemieux’s home turf, near Montreal, but Saunders says he has lots of friends in Canada — not to mention many supporters he expects to bring across the Atlantic for the fight — so he’s not worried about being in enemy territory.

Lemieux, however, has only one thing on his mind — devastation:

“It’s time to be world champion again,” Lemieux said. “Saunders is about to get destroyed. I’m going to be extremely ready for this fight and I’m going to inflict a lot of pain on Saunders. His 0 must go.”

Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management, who represents Lemieux, goes on to mention that Lemieux ‘viscerally dislikes Saunders,’ so therefore has all the motivation in the world to put on a great show. That’s not particularly surprising considering that Saunders has a penchant for rubbing people the wrong way.

But really this fight is an interesting style contrast between Lemieux, who is known for being the big puncher, and Saunders, who is the slick, awkward boxer.

Who do you like in this fight?