By Zachary Alapi, photos by Robert Levesque/PhotoZone Sport
Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada - David Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) was forced to go the distance against the rugged and crafty Cristian Fabian Rios (21-8-3 6 KOs), winning a unanimous decision via scores of 100-90 (twice) and 99-91. Rios has never been stopped in his eight defeats.
In trademark fashion, Lemieux stalked Rios from the opening bell behind a high guard, unleashing thudding hooks to the body and a sharp straight right hand upstairs. Rios loaded up on a few counters, but he spent most of the round in a shell.
Lemieux landed a massive right hand in round two, followed by a battering ram shot to Rios’ belly. The crowd roared as Lemieux cornered Rios, but the Argentine did well to escape. Even more impressive was the counter straight left that the southpaw Rios landed at the end of the stanza – a shot that buckled Lemieux.
In round three, Rios had more sustained success with his left hand, bothering Lemieux with the straight shot. A piercing combination even backed Lemieux up, although the Canadian sustained a higher punch output and applied more pressure, including landing a thudding left hook as the round concluded.
Although Lemieux was loading up with massive hooks, Rios’ stinging counters were landing flush and disrupting his rhythm. Lemieux gained a somewhat firmer grip on the bout in round five behind a brutal body attack that had Rios perpetually retreating. In the following stanza, Lemieux laid a serious beating on Rios, knocking the Argentine around the ring, pinning him in a corner and then pasting him with a knee-buckling counter right hand off the ropes when Rios tried to press.
Lemieux, after cornering Rios in round seven, was literally grinning following a series of unanswered power punches, although the granite-chinned Argentine gamely survived, literally scurrying about the ring at times to get a respite from Lemieux’s pressure. And yet, Rios was able to snap Lemieux’s head back at the end of round eight with a right hook-straight left combination.
Encouragingly, Lemieux carried his power and output into the fight’s final third. Despite gunning for a stoppage, it was a lead right hand that stunned Rios in round 10, but Lemieux wasn’t quite able to secure the breakthrough he craved. Both men slugged until the final bell, and the crowd voiced their approval at what turned out to be a grueling bout.
