David Lemieux: Spike O'Sullivan Didn't Want To Take This Fight

By Keith Idec

David Lemieux is convinced Spike O’Sullivan didn’t want to fight him September 15.

Lemieux told BoxingScene.com that there were times during negotiations that he thought he’d fight someone other than O’Sullivan on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin undercard because it took O’Sullivan so long to agree to face him.

“He didn’t wanna take this fight,” Lemieux said. “It took long enough to get him into this fight. It took a long time before he accepted it. We really went back and forth, trying to make them take the fight. It’s not like he wanted to take this fight. I think he had to take the fight.”

The winner of the Lemieux-O’Sullivan middleweight match at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas likely will become a future opponent for Alvarez. Golden Boy Promotions represents Alvarez and is the co-promoter for Lemieux and O’Sullivan.

“This is a fight people wanna see,” Lemieux said of opposing O’Sullivan. “Two guys who come to fight, strong fighters, heavy-handed. It was a logical fight to make for this undercard.”

The 29-year-old Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) will fight for the second time since losing a lopsided, 12-round unanimous decision to unbeaten WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs) on December 16 in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Montreal’s Lemieux, a former IBF middleweight champ, defeated France’s Karim Achour (26-5-3, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision in his last fight, a 12-rounder May 26 in Quebec City, Canada.

The 34-year-old O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) stopped the Dominican Republic’s Berlin Abreu (14-2, 11 KOs) after the third round of his last fight, May 4 in Carson, California.

“It’s gonna be a great fight,” Lemieux said. “It’s gonna be something not to miss. I’m here to wake up the world to know Lemieux is here and that Lemieux is back.”

Lemieux-O’Sullivan will be one of three bouts broadcast before the HBO Pay-Per-View main event between Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) and Mexico’s Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).

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