Was Lemieux sacrificed to GGG ???

[Scipio2009]

I've been very curious as to why Lemieux was willing to fight GGG before making a single defense of his IBF title....

The most probable conclusion that I've come up with is Golden Boy trading the Lemieux fight (And his IBF Middleweight Championship belt) to GGG in exchange for GGG not contesting the WBC belt in the upcoming Canelo vs Cotto fight.

As we know, GGG was the WBC mandatory for Cotto.... GGG could have forced Cotto to either fight or vacate the title... A step aside agreement would have to be reached....

(Oscar showing some business savvy behind the scenes?)
Canelo and Lemieux are both tied to Oscar De La Hoya.... So I think some kind of understanding was reached at the expense of Mr. Lemieux thus allowing Canelo to fight for the lineal Middleweight belt...

Make no mistake, Lemieux will make a boat load of cash... But he would have anyway after a few defenses.... GGG is on a mission to unify the Middleweight division and would come knocking at the door of the IBF eventually anyway....

It's just my opinion, because making a easier defense or more for Lemieux makes more sense... The GGG fight would happen regardless as long as Lemieux holds the IBF title...

Thoughts ???

Simple

Lemieux just picked off the IBF title on FS2, Golden Boy Promotions just lost out on the deal that they had with FS1, and HBO is being stingy with the fights that they're willing to pick up (especially for fights not featuring Cotto/Alvarez/Klitschko/Kovalev/Golovkin/Pacquiao).

Lemieux wasn't going to get a TV date otherwise, and it wasn't a definitive case that he's actually good enough to beat his IBF mandatory challenger.

Golden Boy took the short money now, prepped Lemieux to catch his beating, and are then banking on being able to take him back to Montreal (feasting on a series of bums before the next time he fights a live body).

[jaded]

It a very good risk for Lemieux. He earns a big payday and gets huge exposure. If he wins or loses but does well his stock goes up...through the roof if he wins...and unless he looks really bad it won't derail him anymore than Canello's lose to Mayweather. It was definitely a smart move by GBP.

[i'm a fun haver]

Because it was a risk and both Lemieux and his promoter took it like real fighters. We want to see exciting fights, here's one that will most likely be fireworks. Us the fans win. I'm definitely buying it.

Lemieux's voluntary is trying to unify titles vs the best in the division.
He's a real fighter
A lot of other fighters should take note.

[Slyboots]

There is no guarantee that Lemieux will ever make this much money again. He's already proven that he is vulnerable to inferior talent. Go for it now and if he catches GGG with a big enough shot then his value will skyrocket.

This sounds about right.

[Mukuro]

I'd rather give Lemi credit for being a man and having balls than make up a conspiracy theory. From what I understand, he pushed for it.

[PACnPBFsuck]

No it doesn't. Once Canelo beats Cotto, GGG vs Canelo is the fight.

You keep thinking that, Oscar is out there talking about Canelo can still make 154.

[i'm a fun haver]

I'd rather give Lemi credit for being a man and having balls than make up a conspiracy theory. From what I understand, he pushed for it.

There's some fans of other fighters who will never understand this.

[Tyler_Durden]

Because it was a risk and both Lemieux and his promoter took it like real fighters. We want to see exciting fights, here's one that will most likely be fireworks. Us the fans win. I'm definitely buying it.

Great post.

[twrx]

Beat me to it i had similar thoughts though I'm thinking GBP sent out david as a line of defense for Canelo. If lemieux wins Oscar won't need to worry bout ggg. If he lemieux loses a tough fight ggg will have some wear and tear leading up to cancel.

[Mukuro]

There's some fans of other fighters who will never understand this.

A fighter willingly taking on the best guy in the division when he could milk a title in front of hometown fans for years. Imagine that

Guys like Lemieux are too rare these days. People trying to figure out what is going on when a guy shows some balls.