By Lem Satterfield
Unbeaten middleweight prospect David Lemieux of Canada told BoxingScene.com that he believes southpaw WBC "emeritus" champion, Sergio Martinez, of Argentina "would be no problem for me."
"I believe that I would break Martinez down and then I would look for an opportunity for a knockout," said the 22-year-old Lemieux, who is 25-0, with 24 knockouts.
"Because he does get hit, and he's open for some of my shots," said Lemieux. "He's a very good fighter, but I think and believe that I would be able to break him down and then finish him off."
On Friday night, the hard-hitting Lemieux, of Montreal, will meet Mexico's Marco Antonio Rubio (49-5-1, 42KOs) in an ESPN televised, WBC eliminator before his partisan fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In victory over Rubio, Lemieux could be in line to face the winner of a June 4, WBC middleweight title bout between Germany's 29-year-old Sebastian Zbik (30-0, 10 knockouts) and Mexico's 25-year-old Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 20 KOs), son of the former world champion boxer by the same name.
Zbik-Chavez was sanctioned as a title match up in early February, when the 36-year-old Martinez (47-2-2, 26 KOs) was stripped of the belt and declared the organization's "emeritus" champion.
The WBC then elevated Zbik to the status of full champion and mandated that his first defense be against Chavez.
The WBC has given the Zbik-Chavez winner the leeway to make one optional defense prior to facing Lemieux, meaning that that Martinez could face the Zbik-Chavez winner perhaps in the fall.
"I would cut off the ring and make Martinez fight in a phone booth. I've been trained very well, and I know how to move, and I'm a very good, aggressive fighter," said Lemieux. "I cut off the ring very well and I cut down fighters. I would be able to do that against Sergio Martinez. That would be no problem for me."
