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Billy Joe Saunders Vs. David Lemieux Results: Analysis And Social Media Reaction

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WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders made a splash in his North American debut. On Saturday in Canada, Saunders severely outclassed local hero and former champion David Lemieux.

You could make the case that Saunders won every round. One of three judges saw the fight that way, but the other two gave two and three rounds to Lemieux, respectively. We could argue about those scorecards, but at the end of the day, the right man took home the victory.

The keys to Saunders' win were movement and speed. His feet and hands were much quicker than Lemieux. You could see the challenger becoming frustrated early in the fight. Saunders peppered Lemieux with jabs throughout most of the first eight rounds before backing off the gas a bit in the later frames.

He only occasionally threw in the championship rounds to continue piling up the rounds.

The pro-Lemieux crowd booed Saunders throughout, but the champion remained poised and firmly committed to his gameplan. Sadly, Lemieux became the latest fighter to use an injury as an excuse for a poor in-ring performance. He claimed he was unable to use his left hand the way he wanted to from the second round through the 12th.

Unfortunately for him, members of the boxing community weren't buying the excuse:

Saunders used his post-fight interview to call out Gennady Golovkin. After his performance on Saturday, there may be some doubt as to whether Golovkin can catch up to the nimble and slick Saunders. If Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez are unable to come to an agreement on a rematch, perhaps the WBA, WBC and IBF champion will come looking to unify the title.

If Golovkin and Canelo can agree to fight in the late spring or early summer as expected, Saunders has firmly positioned himself as a viable option for the winner.

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