David Lemieux put Hassan N’Dam down four times to win a unanimous decision and the vacant IBF middleweight title in a thrilling fight Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Lemieux (34-2, 31 knockouts) fought his typical fight, throwing bombs from the opening bell. The French-Canadian put N’Dam down once in the second round, twice in the fifth and once more in the seventh, all with huge left hands.

N’Dam (31-2, 18 KOs) showed his remarkable recuperative powers by surviving the onslaught and never giving up. And he did well when he was able to stick, move and avoid taking Lemieux’s hardest punches.

The Frenchman just couldn’t do that enough to keep the scores close. The final cards read 115-109, 115-109 and 114-110, meaning the first two judges had Lemieux winning only seven rounds and third had it 6-6.

Lemieux was fighting for a major title for the first time.

A full report will follow.