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In a fight that was stunningly similar to Hassan N'dam's 2012 loss to Peter Quillin, the France-based Cameroonian lost a decision tonight in Montreal to David Lemieux, coming off the canvas four times but otherwise doing quite well in the fight, losing on cards of 115-109, 115-109, and 114-110.
In other words, beyond the knockdowns, those cards are 7-5 Lemieux twice and 6-6. Of course, the knockdowns count for quite a bit, and that's why Lemieux (34-2, 31 KO) is the new IBF middleweight champion.
Lemieux, 26, dropped N'dam in the second round, twice in the fifth, and again in the seventh. Each time, N'dam was hit with a brutal power shot from a heavy-handed puncher, but bounced back up and fought on. There was never a serious reason to stop the fight, and referee Marlon Wright never appeared to strongly consider doing so.
N'dam, 31, once again showed the resilience of an elite fighter, though his chin has betrayed him in both of his losses. Quillin dropped N'dam six times in their fight, and won on three scorecards that were 7-5 in rounds for "Kid Chocolate."
This was definitely the most entertaining of tonight's main events, stealing the show from Broner-Porter and Ward-Smith with ease. And Lemieux, now that it appears his promotional issues are sorted, could be in line for a fight with another slugger, Gennady Golovkin, which is a fight that HBO and fight fans certainly would love to see.
What did you think of the fight?