David Lemieux (25-0, 24 KOs) and Marco Antonio Rubio (49-5-1, 42 KOs) will be competing this Friday, April 8th, in a WBC middleweight eliminator in Lemieux’s native Montreal, Quebec, Canada as part of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.
Mexico’s Rubio, who is 6-0 since losing a February, 2009 bout with Kelly Pavlik via corner stoppage between rounds nine and ten, represents a considerable step up in competition for the 22-year old Canadian power puncher. In his 11-year career, Rubio has been in the ring with the likes of Pavlik, Kassim Ouma, Grady Brewer, Jose Luis Zertuche, Rigoberto Alvarez, and Enrique Ornelas among others.
Lemieux, who is on the verge of signing a long-term deal with HBO, is coming off a breakthrough 2010 which saw him fight only 16 rounds over 5 bouts, going 5-0 with 4 KO’s in that stretch. While lacking the resume of Rubio, he has gradually improved the level of his opposition since arriving on the world scene.
The winner of this eliminator will be the mandatory opponent for the winner of the Sebastian Zbik-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. title contest in June.
Also scheduled to be on the card at the Bell Centre in Montreal is Canadian super middleweight prospect, Adonis Stevenson (13-1, 10 KOs) against North Carolina-based, Derek Edwards (25-1, 13 KOs).
In his last contest, Stevenson was stopped by journeyman Darnell Boone (18-17-3, 7 KOs) in a TKO 2 shocker.
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