David Lemieux can f*#@ing punch. He’s my favorite Tyrannosaurus Rex — stubby arms, all power. The middleweight prospect waited until the final seconds of the 1st round to do THAT, i.e. put Hector Camacho, Jr. to sleep to the point that when he woke up, he still didn’t know what had happened minutes afterward. He should have thought about what was happening sooner — like when he signed to fight this monster puncher. Lemieux is a candidate to score a Knockout of the Year almost every time out. Lemieux’ team wants a title shot next year, and even is calling out super middleweight Lucian Bute. This quote from Lemieux promoter Yvon Michel sums up the dilemma for anyone who faces Lemieux: “Perhaps Lucian would be able to go twelve rounds without getting hit. Maybe yes, maybe no. But if he gets hit in the same manner as he got hit by [Jesse] Brinkley, [Lemieux] would do the same thing [win by knockout].” If YouTube takes down the above clip, don’t forget that ESPN3 has an archive of its past events.
Other stuff that happened this weekend:
- Middleweight Sebastian Sylvester had his way with Mahir Oral Saturday. It was said to be an excellent performance. The thing is, after what Daniel Geale did to Roman Karmazin this weekend in an eliminator — handled him with ease where Sylvester struggled to a draw — you have to wonder if his days as a 160-pound titlist are numbered anyway.
- Besides Geale-Karmazin, there were about eight eliminators or interim belt fights this weekend with another tomorrow, and many of the ones that have happened were all hotly contested. The winners: strawweight Raul Garcia, although it was close; N’Dam N’Jikam, by controversial decision; and bantamweight Vusi Malinga pulled it off by a tight margin.
- Feaherweight prospect Gary Russell, Jr. delivered a dominant unanimous decision win on Fight Night Club Thursday in a bout where he clearly was gunning for the knockout. He managed to wobble Guadalupe De Leon at one point, and given how sturdy De Leon is, that says something. But I think Russell is more about technique and speed than he is power. He has good power, but it’s not extraordinary. Anyway, he can get plenty far on his speed (which is elite stuff) and technique (which he honed as an amateur and 2008 Olympian) and good power. Clearly, he’s better than my initial assessment.
- Featherweight Jorge Diaz continues to make exciting fights, this time in a decision over Emmanuel Lucero. Cruiserweight Troy Ross won an easy decision.
- I did mention that Fight Camp 360 Saturday night gave a brief cameo to this website, right? About 13 minutes in? Rebroadcast info, all on SHO2: Monday, Nov. 1, 10:00 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 2, 10 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 22, 10 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 23, 10 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 24, 12 p.m.; Thursday, Nov. 25, 11 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 26, 12:30 a.m.
- Pacquiao/Margarito 24/7 was VASTLY improved this week. Like night and day. Great looks into each camp, well-written narration, light moments like Bob Arum dancing and Antonio Margarito throwing a slab of concrete on his hands while trainer Roberto Garcia was wrapping them. The show’s also doing a tremendous job of making this fight seem more competitive; remember, this is a marketing tool as much as it is a documentary series.
