David Lemieux vs Elvin Ayala Fight Preview Can Lemieux win
David Lemieux understands that he has a dangerous task in front of him this Friday night when he takes on Elvin Ayala in a 12 round contest for the WBC Intercontinental middleweight championship. Despite fighting in front of a hometown crowd at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, Lemieux is stepping up in class and making his headlining debut on American television against a fighter who has gone toe-to-toe with some elite fighters in recent years.
Ayala (20-4-1, 9 KOs) was last seen dropping a unanimous decision to Lajuan Simon in October 2009 for the USBA middleweight title. Ayala has fought top fighters in the past, meaning that he likely won’t be intimidated by the undefeated record of Lemieux (22-0, 21 KOs) or the lively Montreal crowd. Ayala fought for the IBF middleweight title in April 2008, hanging around with Arthur Abraham during their bout in Germany before being knocked out in the 12th round. He earned that title shot on the heels of a gutty draw against former “The Contender” winner Sergio Mora in October 2007 in Mora’s hometown of Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Lemieux has slowly been working his way up the ranks of the middleweight division, and the fight against Ayala is a chance to prove himself in front of a television audience against a game and experienced opponent. Lemieux has been compared to top junior middleweight prospect, and there are certainly similarities between the two. Both fighters are young - Lemieux is 21 while Alvarez is 19 - and chose to fight professionally at a young age rather than advancing through the youth, amateur boxing system.
Moving straight into professional boxing has had a similar impact on the styles of both Lemieux and Alvarez - both are action fighters with extremely dynamic offenses and limitations to their defense. Lemieux is quite happy to eat a punch in order to take a punch, something that hasn’t cost him yet in his career and certainly has made him an exciting prospect.
Fighting at home is natural for Lemieux - all 22 of his professional bouts have been in Montreal. His biggest win to date most likely came in October 2009 when he knocked out former middleweight prospect (and “The Contender” contestant) Donny McCreary in the first round. Lemieux has been incredibly busy, winning four fights in the eight months since beating McCreary, including knocking out Walid Smichet in the second round of their fight for Lemieux’s Canadian super middleweight title on April 3.
On the surface, this should be a showcase fight for Lemieux; after all, Ayala has only won two of his last five fights. However, he is a veteran, savvy fighter with a solid chin who could cause some problems for Lemieux - especially if the bout goes into later rounds. Lemieux has only gone longer than four rounds twice in his career, leading to the question of his stamina and ability to go deep into a 12-round fight. Certainly, Ayala’s strategy will be to stay out of trouble early and try to steal the fight late if Lemieux wears himself out going for an early knockout.
The evening’s undercard is highlighted by veteran Canadian fighter Sebastien Demers (31-2, 11 KOs), who is looking to continue his impressive recent run of form against Brian Vera (16-4, 10 KOs). Like Ayala, Demers also was knocked out by Abraham in a challenge for the IBF middleweight title, this bout coming in May 2007. However, Demers has looked solid since moving up to super middleweight, including beating such “name” opponents as William Joppy and Nicholson Poulard. Vera also has a big win to his credit, having upset undefeated prospect Andy Lee in March 2008; however, Lee has slipped since then, dropping his last three bouts.
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