?A fighter that Frank Warren brings over, from wherever he brings him from, you gotta take that seriously,? said Hopkins. ?I know from experience??
Tonight at Place Bell in Laval, Qu?bec, Canada, in a fight televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs), the unbeaten southpaw from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, defends his title against David Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs), the hard-hitting former IBF middleweight champion from Montr?al, Qu?bec, Canada.
?I?ve been in the ring 25 times now, and in a lot of those fights, I?ve been the underdog, big time,? said Saunders at yesterday?s presser. ?And in those fights, I was outboxed 60 per cent of the time. When you don?t love boxing and you?re still winning?you look back and wonder, ?How did I do that? How did I get through that?? But when you do find a love for it, and you have good people working around you, people who make you happy?there?s a saying, a happy fighter is a thankful fighter. And I haven?t been this happy since my amateur days. For the last six or seven months, I?ve never been happier. I?m excited to get into the ring. I?m excited to get into the ring and eager to put on a classic display. Because not only am I mixing it with a boxer who is in the top-5, but I?ll be fighting in front of great fighters I?ve watched as a kid, like Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya.?
This is his chance to shine.
?David has to come from round one and try to knock me out,? Saunders said. ?Because when he?s eating fresh air, he?s very injury prone. But what I don?t want from David?s team are excuses. David is a good fighter, he?s mixed it with Golovkin at a very elite level. But some boxers are not quite enough to be at that elite level. And David, you?re not quite good enough. Am I good enough? We?ll soon see. In my own mind, I know I can deal with it, and then with Golovkin or Canelo, we?ll see where I really am.?
Lemieux has heard it all before and will likely hear it all again. But he says he?s never been better. He says he?s never been more up for a fight. He has unfinished business with Gennady Golovkin, who stopped him when they fought two years ago. But for now Triple G can wait.
?The time to talk is over and now it?s time to let the fists do the talk and show you who the real World Champion is,? said Lemieux. ?A lot of things are going to happen on Saturday, but my promise to you is that by the time I will leave Place Bell, I will have the WBO belt on me. I will be World Champion. I?m ready to give you guys a great evening of boxing. Saunders made a lot of promises, about his chin, about his purse, and that?s something I haven?t forgotten.?
Turning his attention to the reigning and defending WBO middleweight champ, Lemieux said, ?Let?s see for how long you will be able to back up those words and put them together again this Saturday. I?m well aware of your abilities, I hope you are aware of mine. I?m not just a puncher. People like to see blood and big punches, and that?s what they?ll see on Saturday.?
Representing Golden Boy Promotions and David Lemieux, Bernard Hopkins was as eloquent as usual. ?David Lemieux? Billy Joe Saunders? They both have the goods to carry on in the middleweight division, over the next year, 2018, with an excitement of what?s going to happen next. We have two guys whose styles really go together. When you have that type of skills and that type of matchup, you?re going to have fireworks. Anyone that underestimates a fighter that Frank Warren brings over, from wherever he brings him from, you gotta take that seriously. I know from experience that he didn?t come here to lay down, he didn?t come here to give anything away. So David Lemieux has to know that he needs to be at his best. Both fighters now have the opportunity to become superstars in their weight division, but first they have to pass the test that comes Saturday.?
The co-main event will be a 10-round championship fight for the WBO Intercontinental middleweight title between Antoine ?Action? Douglas (22-1-1, 16 KOs) and Gary ?Spike? O?Sullivan (26-2, 18 KOs). Also on the televised card, unbeaten Cletus ?Hebrew Hammer? Seldin (21-0, 17 KOs) will face Yves Ulysse Jr. (14-1, 9 KOs) in super lightweight 10-rounder.
