This fight could be the sleeper of the night. For those who like their punching pure and simple, Lemieux vs. N?Dam is for you?
When faced with Saturday night?s embarrassment of riches, it?s hard to decide which of the three fights being televised on three different networks at the same time to watch. It?s not as though one can say, ?I?m not watching that fight, not if it means listening to Mauro Ranallo,? especially since Showtime isn?t part of the equation. On this night, NBC, BET, and Fox Sports 1 are the networks in question and the fights are, respectively, Adrien Broner vs. Shawn Porter, Andre Ward vs. Paul Smith, and David Lemieux vs. Hassan N?Dam.
One can never be certain what will happen when the opening bell rings. But the fight between David Lemieux and Hassan N?Dam is guaranteed to be a barnburner.
Fighting for the vacant IBF middleweight title last held by Jermain Taylor, both fighters have an opportunity to make their mark on the sport, an opportunity that might not have come about had Taylor not crashed and burned in so public, and so worrisome, a manner.
Fighting in front of a friendly crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs), the knockout artist from Montreal, gets it on with N?Dam N?Jikam (31-1, 18 KOs), from Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, France, by way of Cameroon, in a much anticipated war
Both fighters are hungry. Determining which fighter is hungrier is an exercise in futility, whereas watching the fight on Fox Sports 1 should be anything but.
?I?ve been waiting for a long time to be able to become a world champion,? said Lemieux. ?It is my time, and I?ve been working since I was a young kid at this to be where I am today. I?m working extremely hard. My physical strength is much better than it ever has been.?
The winner of this fight can expect bigger and better things, bigger and better fights, but neither man is looking past his opponent.
?I?m extremely confident in this fight,? Lemieux continued, ?and what I am to expect with Hassan N?Dam. I understand everything about him. I?ve watched him. We studied him very well. I know his strengths, and I know his weaknesses. And I know my strengths, and I know my weaknesses. He?s a good fighter but my abilities are very different. Anybody I?m willing to go in the ring with, I?m going to hurt them. I have one goal in my mind. It?s to destroy. I?m willing to do all the damage.?
While N?Dam may lack Lemieux?s power, he?s no less confident than his opponent. He sees the Canadian?s back-to-back losses in 2011, to Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine, perhaps the two best fighters Lemieux has faced, as a place he wants to revisit.
?It?s the fight that I?ve been waiting for,? he said. ?I?m happy that this fight is taking place. For me, the opponent is not important. The fact that David Lemieux accepted to fight me was a relief, because I?ll be able to show the world what I have in my head, in my legs and in my arms.?
This fight could be the sleeper of the night. For those who like their punching pure and simple, David Lemieux vs. Hassan N?Dam on Fox Sports 1 is for you.
David Lemieux vs. Hassan N?Dam will be televised live Saturday night on Fox Sports 1 starting at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT.
