By Keith Idec
As much as David Lemieux wants to fight Canelo Alvarez later this year, he is certain Alvarez isn’t in for an easy night May 6.
Alvarez is an 8-1 favorite as his Mexican showdown with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. draws near, but Lemieux views Chavez as a very live underdog. The 6-feet-1 Chavez stands about four inches taller than Alvarez and figures to have a significant weight advantage once they enter the ring for their 12-round fight next month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The contract weight for the Alvarez-Chavez fight is 164½ pounds. The 31-year-old Chavez (50-2-1, 32 KOs, 1 NC) hasn’t fought at a weight that low since he lost to Sergio Martinez in a middleweight title fight in September 2012. Nevertheless, photos Chavez has posted on social media indicate that he is taking training seriously for his HBO Pay-Per-View main event against Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs).
Lemieux, who’ll fight on the Alvarez-Chavez undercard, has taken notice.
“My prediction for Canelo-Chavez, seeing the way that Chavez is training – you know, he looks good and everything – I think people shouldn’t underestimate Chavez,” Lemieux said during a conference call Tuesday. “But we all know Canelo’s a very good fighter, and we’re all expecting Canelo to go out and beat Chavez, and he should.”
The former IBF middleweight champion doesn’t think Alvarez can stop Chavez inside the distance, though.
Chavez has lost just once by knockout or technical knockout. He quit on his stool before the start of the 10th round against Andrzej Fonfara two years ago in Carson, California.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be a knockout,” Lemieux said regarding Alvarez-Chavez. “I think it’s gonna be a difficult fight for Canelo. Chavez is definitely a big boy. But if I had money to [bet], my money would be on Canelo. But it’s definitely not gonna be an easy fight. They’re both very good fighters. But I think the edge [goes to] Canelo.”
Montreal’s Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) is set to meet Mexico’s Marcos Reyes (35-4, 26 KOs) on the Alvarez-Chavez undercard. The contract weight for their 10-rounder is 163 pounds.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
