David Lemieux undid his gloves for one last time. The illustrious Quebec boxer announced that he was retiring on Saturday.
Updated yesterday at 7:21 p.m.
“I have accomplished a lot during my career,” wrote the 33-year-old pugilist in a press release. I achieved my dream of being world champion. I gave the fans exciting fights, accepting all the challenges that were offered to me. »
But the time had come to pursue another. That of fully living his life as a father with his newborn Xander, born in May a few days before his last fight. This is his third child, after Lilyanna and Leon, but his first with former diver Jennifer Abel.
I dedicated my daily life to training, to boxing. And now I want to enjoy every moment with my family.
David Lemieux
The Laval resident leaves professional boxing with a record of 43 wins, including 36 knockouts, and 5 losses. And he will have brought great moments to fans during his 15-year career.
Starting with his IBF world middleweight title (160 pounds), in 2015, which he had acquired at the Bell Center by sending Hassan N’Dam to the mat no less than four times.
PHOTO CHARLES LABERGE, ARCHIVES SPECIAL COLLABORATION
David Lemieux became IBF middleweight world champion on June 16, 2015.
Just before, in 2014, he had beaten the American Gabriel Rosado in spectacular fashion, in New York. Lemieux had passed the K.-O. to the crowd favorite, earning the NABF middleweight belt in the process.
And even if it is a defeat, his fight against Gennady Golovkin sold out at Madison Square Garden in November 2015, will have marked the history of boxing. When Lemieux speaks of accepted challenges, it is particularly of him that it is a question. Golovkin was on top at the time, a unified world middleweight champion. Lemieux had finally bowed to 8e round by K.-O. technique after an honorable performance.
“David is the kind of guy we love because he’s real, and he has a heart as big as Quebec,” said Eye of the Tiger Management promoter Camille Estephan in the press release. . He’s a challenge guy, as he’s demonstrated throughout his career.
He has all my respect for what he has achieved. And even more today, to retire in this moment, healthy, instead of just clinging to the past. He retires at the right time, and I say thank you for everything.
Camille Estephan, promoter of Eye of the Tiger Management
His long-time coach, Marc Ramsay, speaks of “nostalgia”, but also of “great pride” in receiving David Lemieux’s decision.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
David Lemieux and Marc Ramsay
“I remember the 10-year-old little guy who went to train at Russ Anber’s old gymnasium every day before so much determination,” Ramsay said. This same determination that led him a few years later to the top of the boxing world. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that David was one of the boxers I enjoyed training the most during my career. »
“I am really proud of the journey we have made together, proud of the accomplishments, proud of the person he has become, proud that he is leaving boxing healthy, and above all proud of the direction he is taking now with his family. »
A rocky end of career
If Lemieux reached the greatest heights of boxing, his last years were more laborious.
He lost to Billy Joe Saunders in 2017 at his home at Place Bell in Laval.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
David Lemieux faced Billy Joe Saunders on December 16, 2017 at Place Bell, in Laval.
In 2018, he failed to make the weight for his fight against the Frenchman Karim Achour at the Videotron Center in Quebec. Camille Estephan had even been worried about the health problems her weight loss attempts had caused. He had nevertheless won it easily.
Lemieux then beat the American Gary O’Sullivan without appeal with a K.-O. in the first round, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was in September 2018. It will have been his last great moment.
To breathe new life into his career, and to avoid problems on the scale, the Laval pugilist then changed weight category, moving to 168 pounds.
If he chained three consecutive victories against modest opponents, it got much more complicated against the excellent David Benavidez (26-0, 23 K.-O.), last May.
His defeat in the second round of this disputed fight at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, on May 21, will finally sound the death knell of his career. It was another great challenge for him, a courage that even Benavidez had seen before the clash.
The man Ramsay called a “lion-hearted” boxer after that fight may not be leaving his sport in glory, but with his head held high regardless.
“It’s been quite a journey in the world of boxing,” added Lemieux in a Facebook post. I’m so proud of where he’s taken me, and of the man I’ve become. All of this would not have been possible without your support and encouragement. Thank you. I’m ready for the next step. »