By Keith Idec

David Lemieux took some time Thursday morning to troll Billy Joe Saunders on Twitter exactly one month before their middleweight title fight.

Lemiuex promised Saunders that he’ll knock him down on his way to destroying him when they fight for Saunders’ WBO middleweight title December 16 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. England’s Saunders (25-0, 12 KOs) will travel to the home turf of Montreal’s Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs) for a mandatory defense of his 160-pound championship, which HBO will televise.

In his tweet, Lemieux wrote: A month until ur ugly ass visits the canvas @bjsaunders enjoy ur status for another month till I destroy u.

Saunders, typically a harsh trash-talker, hadn’t responded to Lemieux’s taunts as of Thursday afternoon. Lemieux alluded to the abrasive Saunders’ comments in previous Tweets recently.

One read: Training is going great, @bjsaunders he’s in for a bad beating December 16. #AndTheNew. Another read: Lol clown, keep talking ur going to sleep come fight @bjsaunders.

The 28-year-old Saunders is unbeaten, but the powerful Lemieux has knocked out 80 percent of his opponents since he turned pro in April 2007.

Lemieux, 28, has lost by technical knockout twice during his 10-year pro career – to Mexico’s Marco Antonio Rubio and IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. The Canadian contender, a former IBF middleweight champion, has faced bigger punchers than Saunders, but the left-handed Saunders is one of the best boxers he’ll have encountered.

"I'm proud to train a boxer such as David Lemieux, who is a true warrior, a real champion, always up for real challenges. As soon as we found out that facing Canelo wasn't an option, we started looking at other options. David's request was clear: 'I want to face the best fighter available.' And, we found it in Saunders, and it's going to be a good challenge for David. Once again, he will give the fans a show to remember and a beautiful Christmas gift," said Lemieux's trainer Marc Ramsay.

Saunders is coming off an impressive performance against fellow southpaw Willie Monroe Jr. (21-3, 6 KOs), a 12-round, unanimous-decision victory September 16 at Copper Box Arena in London.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.