David Lemieux returns on Saturday
Former IBF middleweight titleholder David Lemieux is still in the prime of his career. He believes it is inevitable that he will fight for and win another world title belt sometime next year.
In the meantime, a gatekeeper stands between him and moving toward another title shot.
Lemieux will face Cristian Fabian Rios in a 10-round bout on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Lemieux (35-3, 32 knockouts) was victorious in his last bout on May 7, stopping Glen Tapia in the fourth round. It was his first fight since being stopped by Gennady Golovkin in a WBA-IBF title-unification fight last October.
The 27-year-old contender is ranked among the top 10 in three of the major sanctioning bodies. He is ranked No. 4 by THE RING magazine.
Saturday night will be a homecoming for Lemieux, who resides in the Montreal area. His last fight in Montreal took place in June of last year, when he dropped Hassan N’Dam four times en route to a unanimous decision win (for the vacant IBF belt).
Rios (21-7-3, 6 KOs) will be fighting for the second time in his career outside of his native Argentina. The 33-year-old gatekeeper lost a 10-round decision to Tommy Langford in England last October.
Rios does have a knockout win over fringe contender Ulises Lopez and a draw against WBC-ranked middleweight contender Jorge Sebastian Heiland.
Lemieux’s fight will also mark a debut for Golden Boy Promotions, which co-promotes Lemieux. The promotional company will launch ‘Golden Boy Fighter Spotlight’ this Saturday, which allows fans an inside look at the company’s fighters prior to upcoming fights.
The spotlight series offers all types of content to connect fans with the fighter through Snapchat takeovers, Instagram stories, a fighter profile and a VIP newsletter.
Also fighting of the Eye of the Tiger management card will be unbeaten junior middleweight Steven Butler (17-0-1, 14 KOs). He will face James Trotter (10-3-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Super middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard (14-0, 10 KOs), one of Golden Boy’s top unbeaten prospects, squares off against Gergo Horvath (9-1-1, 5 KOs).
Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing