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David Lemieux (36(32)-3) defeated a beatable journeyman opponent in Cristian Rios (21(6)-3-1). The scores were 100-90, 100-90, 99-91. But though those scorecards were deserved, they don’t tell the whole story.
Rios came into the fight ranked #52 according to BoxRec. With a 19% KO ratio, it was unlikely that Rios was going to stop Lemieux. Still the durable opponent was game, and he was answering Lemieux till the very end.
Based on this performance, I question whether Lemieux would win against the likes of Danny Jacobs or Billy Saunders. With a chin that’s always been a concern, Lemieux displayed a leaky defense. Perhaps he was untroubled by Rios’ power, but against elite opposition, Lemieux will need to protect himself better.
It might be wise for Lemieux to continue his comeback against more journeymen. Many people speculate that Lemieux is a candidate for a match-up with Canelo. However, should Lemieux fight Canelo now, I suspect that Lemieux wouldn’t offer much of a fight.
The full fight can be seen on YouTube.