By Zachary Alapi

Bell Centre, Montreal, Canada - David Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) was forced to go the distance against the rugged and crafty Cristian Fabian Rios (21-8-3 6 KOs), winning a unanimous decision via scores of 100-90 (twice) and 99-91. Rios has never been stopped in his eight defeats.

In trademark fashion, Lemieux stalked Rios from the opening bell behind a high guard, unleashing thudding hooks to the body and a sharp straight right hand upstairs. Rios loaded up on a few counters, but he spent most of the round in a shell.

Lemieux landed a massive right hand in round two, followed by a battering ram shot to Rios’ belly. The crowd roared as Lemieux cornered Rios, but the Argentine did well to escape. Even more impressive was the counter straight left that the southpaw Rios landed at the end of the stanza – a shot that buckled Lemieux.

In round three, Rios had more sustained success with his left hand, bothering Lemieux with the straight shot. A piercing combination even backed Lemieux up, although the Canadian sustained a higher punch output and applied more pressure, including landing a thudding left hook as the round concluded.

Although Lemieux was loading up with massive hooks, Rios’ stinging counters were landing flush and disrupting his rhythm. Lemieux gained a somewhat firmer grip on the bout in round five behind a brutal body attack that had Rios perpetually retreating. In the following stanza, Lemieux laid a serious beating on Rios, knocking the Argentine around the ring, pinning him in a corner and then pasting him with a knee-buckling counter right hand off the ropes when Rios tried to press.

Lemieux, after cornering Rios in round seven, was literally grinning following a series of unanswered power punches, although the granite-chinned Argentine gamely survived, literally scurrying about the ring at times to get a respite from Lemieux’s pressure. And yet, Rios was able to snap Lemieux’s head back at the end of round eight with a right hook-straight left combination.

Encouragingly, Lemieux carried his power and output into the fight’s final third. Despite gunning for a stoppage, it was a lead right hand that stunned Rios in round 10, but Lemieux wasn’t quite able to secure the breakthrough he craved. Both men slugged until the final bell, and the crowd voiced their approval at what turned out to be a grueling bout.

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ON THE UNDERCARD

Steven Butler (18-0-1, 15KOs) lived up to his “Bang Bang” moniker by scoring an explosive first-round stoppage of Janks Trotter (10-4-1, 10KOs) at 2:41 to claim the vacant IBF North American super welterweight title.

Butler started fast, landing a three-punch combination out of a clinch. Shortly after, a knee-buckling overhand right connected flush on Trotter’s jaw and nearly dropped him. Butler followed up with combinations as the ropes appear to hold Trotter upright, although no knockdown was called.

In the final minute of the round, another right hand nearly decapitated Trotter, spinning him around. Butler pounced, knocking Trotter through the ropes, which prompted a stoppage. At only 21, Butler is one of Canada’s top talents and could find himself in major fights sooner than expected.

Ricky Sismundo (31-9-3, 13 KOs) scored two knockdowns to upset Ghislain Maduma (18-3, 11 KOs) via hard-fought unanimous decision over 10 rounds. Scores were 97-91 and 95-93 (twice).

Sismundo scored a flash knockdown in round one, clipping Maduma with a right hand that forced him to touch his glove to the canvas. Sismundo had, up to that point, landed the round’s most telling counters.

Rounds two and three featured cagey boxing from both men as they looked to outfox each other and land counter hooks. Maduma seemed to clearly win round four behind a purposeful left hook and right hand, stinging Sismundo multiple times.

Maduma and Sismundo did little other than stymie each other’s offense over the next couple of rounds, although Sismundo did well to punctuate round six with a left hook and subsequent flurry. The action picked up towards the end of round seven when Sismundo answered a Maduma left hook with a one-two. They exchanged freely and landed simultaneously as the round ended.

Maduma’s low lead left proved inviting for Sismundo’s spearing overhand rights, which started to land with greater frequency. The fight broke open in the ninth when Sismundo shook Maduma to the soles of his shoes with a right hand and knocked him down shortly after. Maduma barely made it out of the round and seemed out on his feet.

Although Maduma stayed upright during the final round, he could do little more than retreat on wobbly legs.