Lemieux hopes top preparation, home ring advantage trump WBO champ Saunders
LAVAL, Que. — There is no shortage of confidence from either British champion Billy Joe Saunders or Canadian challenger David Lemieux going into their bout for the World Boxing Organization middleweight title.
Lemieux (38-3, 33 knockouts) figures home ring advantage and his punching power mixed with improved technique will win the day over the defence and frustrating tactics of Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs) when they meet on Saturday night before an expected sellout crowd of about 9,000 at Place Bell arena.
Saunders is already looking ahead to a big money bout against one of the current middleweight kings — Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan or Saul (Canelo) Alvarez of Mexico — but needs to get through former International Boxing Federation champion Lemieux first.
“The more he underestimates me the more it will work against him,” Lemieux said Thursday. “If he thinks I’m just a puncher, he’ll find out different on Saturday.”