By Luke Furman

Former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) is planning to make a real statement against Irishman Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs).

Lemieux vs. O'Sullivan will be a featured bout on the HBO Pay-Per-View undercard to the Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin rematch.

According to Lemieux, and his co-promoter/manager Camille Estephan, it wasn't easy to finalize a deal with O'Sullivan.

The two boxers were in action on the same card last December in Canada. O'Sullivan knocked out Antoine Douglas, while Lemieux was dominated by WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in the main event.

"He challenged me on the night of Saunders fight, but then he did not want to know anything for a long time before he was forced to take the fight. I think he's very scared because he doesn't have much of a chance of beating me," Lemieux told La Presse.

"We can no longer afford such a poor performance [as we did against Saunders]. I first changed by getting a nutritionist and put together a plan. I eat more and better. I have not felt this good for a long time. I'm going back to the training highs I had in my major fights."

Estephan says he had difficulty convincing the O'Sullivan clan to accept this clash.

"I understand. I'm not saying he's a coward, it's primarily a business issue, since he has an agreement with Golden Boy to face Canelo, and he did not want to take such a tough fight before a possible match against Canelo. There are not many people who want to face David, I can assure you," Estephan said.

"People have judged us in relation to this fight [with Saunders]. David was injured on the shoulder. We want a chance to prove that he can do a lot better than that.

"I'm not a fan of letting injured boxers fight. But there were no warning signs two days before the fight. I'm not saying he would have beaten him, but David would have done better."

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.