Re: The Hottest Boxing Storylines-Week Ending 21 June
Is Lemieux's Win over N'Dam an Early Fight of the Year Contender?
It's a damn shame that the best fight of a loaded boxing weekend will likely turn out to be the least watched.
Lemieux captured the vacant IBF Middleweight Championship with a four-knockdown performance against former champion Hassan N'Dam on Saturday night at the Bell Center in fight-crazed Montreal.
This fight probably got lost in the shuffle of Broner vs. Porter and Ward's return, but fight fans need to check this one out, if for no other reason than to see a future star in Lemieux and N'Dam's otherworldly will and determination.
And if you do, you'll see a fight that absolutely doesn't reflect the lopsided final scores.
Lemieux won by scores of 115-109, 115-109 and 114-110, but that only reflects a 7-5 edge in rounds on two cards and an even fight on the third without the knockdowns.
But there were plenty of those.
Lemieux recently signed a deal with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions—which is snagged up in court now by a lawsuit from former promoter Yvon Michel—and he rewarded his new boss with a world championship.
The shots he landed might well have been enough to put down any other 160-pound fighter for good, but N'Dam kept getting up and fighting back, despite the brutal nature of the punches he was swallowing. He remained in the fight with a chance to win until the final bell.
The Canadian, who has developed a loyal following in his native Montreal, now holds a nice bargaining chip in the form of the IBF title. He has been mentioned as a possible foe for Golovkin later in the year.
De La Hoya was clear after the fight that he'd be
also expressing an interest in signing N'Dam to a promotional deal.
Golovkin vs. Lemieux would sure promise fireworks for however long it lasts, which, given what we've seen, probably wouldn't be more than a few rounds.
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