Lemieux, Porter, Ward, Lopez, Spence Win Big Fights Saturday

The action this weekend was all on Saturday night on the North American continent and we start this report with a visit to the home of big time boxing in Canada; Montreal’s Bell Centre.

That’s where big punching middleweight David Lemieux put on a display of power and poise as the local hero captured the vacant IBF title with a awesome display of power, knocking down Hassan N’dam N’Jikam four times enroute to winning a 115-110, 115-110 and 114-109 unanimous decision.

But Lemieux didn’t have things all his way as N’Jikam outboxed the Canadian for large parts of the fight but did not have the defense to avoid nor the chin to handle the big shots thrown at him.

The contest was very similar to N’Jikam’s loss to Peter Quillin in 2012 for the WBO crown with the Frenchman winning a lot of rounds only to visit the floor repeatedly, getting up every time and finishing the contest on his feet.

The win for Lemieux, 34-2 (31), opens up the possibility of facing the top man in the division, WBA kingpin Gennady Golovkin, in what would be a massive clash in Montreal or even Las Vegas.

N’Dam, 31-2 (18), once again fails to capitalize on a world title opportunity due to neglecting defense and thus must go back to the drawing board to regroup if he is to ever join the division’s elite.

On the undercard, lightweight Dierry Jean, 29-1 (20), posted a wide points win over Jerry Belmontes, 19-7 (5), for the NABF title.

At the MGM Grand is Las Vegas, an important contest at welterweight took place with former world champs Shawn Porter and Adrien Broner tangling for what will likely be a world title shot for the winner.

This was a very messy bout with more holding than actual fighting taking place. As it was Broner doing most of the holding and Porter doing most of the fighting, Porter came out on top by scores of 118-108, 115-111 and 114-112.

Porter, 26-1 (16), set the pace and was the busier man, throwing punches to get on the inside, where he was grabbed by Broner, 30-2 (22), who spent most of the fight standing on the outside and posing.

Porter’s best punch was his jab, which connected repeatedly, snapping back the head of Broner, who had some success with sporadic right hands on the inside and lead left hooks from the outside, one of which provided the Cincinnati man with his only bright spot of the bout when he dropped Porter at the start of the 12th round.

But it was too little, too late, especially as Broner lost a point late in the contest after holding, pushing and using his forearm nearly every round in the attempt to control Porter when the stronger man got close.

Once again, Broner proved that he talks better than he fights and will probably drop back down to light welterweight while Porter is now in line to face one of the champions at 147 pounds.

On the undercard, one of the top up and coming fighters at welterweight put on another dazzling display as southpaw Errol Spence Jr, 17-0 (14), crushed late replacement opponent Phil Lo Greco, 26-2 (14), at 1:50 of the third round.

Lo Greco came out aggressive and won the first round with the higher workrate but Spence attacked the body in the second frame before moving to the head in the third, flooring the Canadian and forcing a stoppage shortly afterward.

At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, WBC super middleweight champ Andre Ward, 28-0 (15), returned to the ring after a 19 month hiatus to stop brave but overmatched Paul Smith, 35-6 (21), in a non-title bout at light heavyweight.

Former two-time world title challenger Smith spent the fight in a high guard defense, looking for opportunities that rarely came as he landed only a handful of punches against Ward, who showed no ring rust as he picked his rival apart round after round.

Ward never allowed Smith to get set to punch and kept the visitor on the defensive with an efficient, economical offense that slipped straight shots and uppercuts through the defense of the Englishman.

By the ninth round, Smith was cut and getting beaten up, prompting his corner to throw in the towel at 1:45 of the frame.

What’s next for Ward? Ideally a title defense is on the horizon but there have been reports of clashes against Golovkin or light heavyweight champions Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson, which would be very interesting fights should they occur.