Former middleweight champ Lemeiux not taking little-known Rios lightly

MONTREAL — After two fights on the road, David Lemieux wanted one at home, even if it was against a little known but potentially dangerous opponent.

The former middleweight champion from Montreal (35-3) will get his wish when he steps into the Bell Centre ring Saturday against Cristian Fabian Rios (21-7-3), a 31-year-old Argentine lefthander who is looking to make his name in the 160-pound division.

“You have to make sure to stay focused and not to take any opponent lightly and look bad,” Lemieux said Thursday. “We’re taking him seriously.

“I know I’m headed for a world title so I want to do good.”

There is already talk of the heavy-hitting Lemieux, one of the sport’s more entertaining brawlers, taking on Mexican star Saul (Canelo) Alvarez in 2017, but first he has to get past Rios, whose claim to fame so far is battling top contender Jorge Sebastian Heiland to a six-round draw in 2012.

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Lemieux has had plenty of the spotlight in his last three bouts.

In June, 2015, he took the vacant International Boxing Federation title with a 12-round decision over Hassan N’Dam in Montreal. But, rather than milk the title for a payday or two against lesser opponents, he got back into the ring four months later at Madison Square Garden with Gennady Golovkin, one of the top boxers, pound for pound, in the world.

Lemieux managed to last eight rounds against the fighter known as GGG, but his IBF belt was added to Golonkin’s already impressive title hoard. He bounced back with a four-round stoppage of Glen Tapia on May 7 in Las Vegas.

There is a suspicion that many top middleweights have been ducking fights with Golovkin, fearing a one-sided loss, but Lemieux didn’t hestitate.

“I truly believed I was going to beat Golovkin and that’s why I took the fight,” he said. “I consider myself the best boxer in the world and I want to fight the best, if it’s Golovkin or Canelo or whoever. I’m not going to say no.”

Rios is coming off a six-round win over Luis Moreno on May 7. Before that, he lost a 10-round decision to Tommy Langford in England in his first bout outside South America.

“If David Lemieux wants a short night he has to catch me and hit me and that will be a difficult job for him,” Rios said through an interpreter. “I know exactly what I’m facing.

“I know he’s a heavy puncher. I’ll try to box, let him come in and then try to counterpunch and land the left.”

Rios isn’t lacking motivation. In Argentina, he has to work a day job to support his boxing career, but a win over Lemieux would “put me in the big leagues and be considered one of best in the division.”

In the Lemieux camp, there is excitement over a fight on home turf but also some sadness. Veteran cutman Bob Miller, who was to have worked in Lemieux’s corner, was left paralysed after a car accident near his home in northern New York State last week. Ramsay’s assistant, Luc Vincent Ouellet, will handle cuts for the bout.

“Right now we’re more concerned about Bob than the fact that we have to use another cutman,” said Ramsay.

Miller has worked with most of Canada’s top pros in recent decades, including former world title holders Jean Pascal, Lucian Bute and Eric Lucas.

Bill Beacon, The Canadian Press