By Edward Chaykovsky
This coming Saturday night, former world champion David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) will return to the ring against James De La Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs) at the Olympic Theater in Montreal, Canada.
The last time Golovkin was in action was back in October, when he lost by knockout to Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin in an IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight unification at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Lemieux views the upcoming fight as a starting point on the road back to securing a much bigger opportunity.
He doesn't expect a major opportunity to take too long.
“I think it’s not going to take very long,” Lemieux told USA Today. “I see as far as March 12th, and then the other doors will be open. For now we’re focusing on March 12th but I don’t think it’s going to take very long to get a title fight. I’m ready to take on anybody in the middleweight division.”
One potential fight down the line could be a showdown with his Golden Boy Promotions stablemate, WBC champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs).
Canelo defends his title against Amir Khan on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The biggest issue for Lemieux, and many other middleweights, is Canelo's instance that all of his opponents must come down to a catch-weight. Canelo's last four fights have taken place at 155-pounds. His first defense of the middleweight title will also take place at 155.
“Yes, of course [I'd like to fight him], but Canelo’s not a middleweight. I will not go below 160. That’s why I’m a middleweight. Canelo is a very good fighter but if he wants to fight middleweight he has to fight at 160," Lemieux said.
