By Luke Furman
Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux will test himself at the super middleweight limit 168-pounds in the coming months.
But don't be surprised if he doesn't stay there for too long.
Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) mentioned that he is fully recovered from his misfortunes following his misadventure on December 15, when he was taken to the hospital before the weigh-in for a planned fight against Tureano Johnson at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lemieux was very dehydrated after squeezing down to the middleweight limit, which led to the cancellation of his fight.
"It's one of the worst scenarios that can happen to a boxer," said Lemieux to RDS.
"I was worried about not making the weight and disappointing my fans, but it was rough this dehydration. That's why I ended up in the hospital. I was almost there ... by sleeping I thought I was going to cut half a pound, but when I woke up I was knocked out. I was dizzy. I did not really see well and my hearing was very bad. [My trainer] Marc [Ramsay] saw me and that's when he made the decision to go to the hospital.
"Marc is an exceptional person. He lost a lot of money making this decision. It was not an easy decision and not all coaches would have did it. He has a really strong character. I have a lot of appreciation for what he did. "
The Quebecer also revealed that he will likely return on May 4 as part of the undercard to the clash between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs. The name of John Ryder was mentioned as a possible opponent.
Both Jacobs and Ryder are promoted by Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.
"I'm going to 168 pounds, but I'm aiming to get back to 160," said Lemieux.
"I'm physically strong, but I'm not at 168. At the limit, I'm even small for a 160-pounder. I'm heavy ... I have big bones! With good nutrition, 160 is possible. This is the most exciting division of boxing and I want to stay at 160. It's easy to comment on my situation, but my body did not want to know anything. All efforts were made, but it was my body that did not respond. There was something that did not work. I did not take a break and it may have had an impact on my body."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org