By Keith Idec

When David Lemieux proclaimed he is “back” during a conference call Wednesday, Spike O’Sullivan quickly countered that he’ll end up on his back September 15.

The Irish middleweight contender considers Lemieux a one-dimensional, limited opponent he’ll beat to propel him toward a shot at the winner of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch. The O’Sullivan-Lemieux match will be one of three bouts broadcast by HBO Pay-Per-View on the Alvarez-Golovkin undercard at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I think he’s a one-trick pony,” O’Sullivan said, referring to Lemieux’s reliance on his left hook. “He does the same thing over and over again. In all his fights, all the fights I’ve watched, he’s been in there and he just does the same thing over and over and over again, so you know what’s gonna be coming.”

O’Sullivan and Lemieux both have lost one-sided, 12-round unanimous decisions to WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (26-0, 12 KOs).

The British southpaw out-boxed O’Sullivan before he beat Andy Lee for his middleweight title, five years ago in London. Saunders defeated Lemieux in masterful fashion December 16 in Laval, Quebec, Canada.

The 29-year-old Lemieux (39-4, 33 KOs) also has been stopped by Marco Antonio Rubio and Golovkin. The 34-year-old O’Sullivan (28-2, 20 KOs) lost by technical knockout to Chris Eubank Jr. (26-2, 20 KOs) in December 2015, when O’Sullivan’s trainer didn’t let him leave his corner for the eighth round in that scheduled 12-rounder at O2 Arena in London.

“I think David had his chance against Golovkin and he got destroyed,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s gonna get destroyed again September 15th. I’ll be ready for Golovkin or Canelo once I put on a fantastic display against David Lemieux. I’m gonna just destroy him.”

Lemieux laughed off O’Sullivan’s prediction. The former IBF middleweight champion claims O’Sullivan is the perfect opponent for him to look good against on this high-profile card.

“He talks about putting me down and putting me out cold,” O’Sullivan said. “I’ve never even been on the canvas in my entire career. He’s the only one that’s been down, and he’s been down numerous times. He’s been beaten by several different opponents, of several different [styles] – Rubio, Golovkin and Saunders. All different style of fighters have beaten him, so it’s gonna be a really good night for me.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.