Severe discomfort in his back has stalled David Lemieux’s latest attempt to have his career move forward.
The former middleweight titlist was forced to withdraw from a scheduled February 21 headliner at Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada after suffering a back injury during training camp. News of the development was announced by Lemieux’s manage, Camille Estephan’s Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) who through a press release have indicated the show will still go on.
It just won’t happen for Lemieux, whose post-title reign career has been plagued by injuries and struggles to make weight. The latest injury—which resulted in a full stop of his training camp—puts Lemieux (41-4, 34KOs) on the shelf for at least 2-3 weeks and officially out of his planned 10-round super middleweight clash versus Poland’s Robert Talarek (24-13-3, 16KOs).
Aspiring heavyweight Simon Kean (18-1, 7KOs) will now top the bill versus American journeyman Daniel Martz. The 2012 Olympic super heavyweight from Trois-Rivières, Canada has won three straight since a surprise knockout loss to Dillion Carman in October 2018. Also featured on the show is unbeaten super middleweight contender Erik Bazinyan (24-0, 18KOs), who faces Timo Laine (27-12, 11KOs).
For Lemieux, it’s not necessarily another step back, but certainly cause for concern regarding his chances to resurface on the title stage. The Montreal-bred knockout artist claimed a vacant title in 2015, scoring four knockdowns en route to a 12-round decision win over Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam. His stay near the top of the division lasted just four months, suffering an 8th round knockout loss to then-unbeaten Gennadiy Golovkin in their October 2015 unification bout.
From there came the slow decline, even in having won seven of his last eight starts.
Efforts to return to the ring for a March 2016 homecoming in Montreal instead saw Lemieux have to sit out the event after coming in more than 2 ½ pounds over the 163-pound catchweight limit for his eventually canceled clash with James de la Rosa. Lemieux also came in heavy for a May 2018 middleweight bout versus Karim Achour, one fight after dropping a landslide decision to Billy Joe Saunders in their December 2017 middleweight title fight.
Lemieux vowed to campaign at super middleweight following the scale fail versus Achour, although changes to his diet and training regimen led to one more run in the 160-pound division. A 1st round knockout of Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan in September 2018 provided a glimmer of hope that he could make it work, the win coming in chief support to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s 12-round nod over Golovkin in their World middleweight championship rematch.
The high-profile win proved to be Lemieux’s last day in the sun. While his career continues onward, concerns for his health arose after he was forced off of a December 2018 DAZN show at Madison Square Garden. A dehydrated Lemieux was pulled from the Alvarez-topped show after suffering from dehydration the morning of his scheduled weigh-in for a planned title eliminator versus Tureano Johnson.
Lemieux missed out on yet another opportunity to appear on an Alvarez undercard, when an injury forced him out of a planned super middleweight clash versus England’s John Ryder. The bout was due to serve in supporting capacity to Alvarez’s eventual 12-round win over Daniel Jacobs in their three-belt middleweight title unification clash, while the winner of Lemieux-Ryder would’ve looked good for a crack at the super middleweight title.
That title shot ultimately went to Ryder, who iced replacement opponent Bilal Akkawy in three rounds.
Lemieux ended a 15-month ring break with a return home to Montreal last December, a showcase nearly turned disastrous as he suffered two knockdowns but scored one of his own in earning a 10-round split decision over former title challenger Max Bursak (35-6-2, 16KOs).
The new main event between Kean and Martz will headline what is now a nine-fight card in Rimouski.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox