Billy Joe Saunders will hit the road to defend his WBO world middleweight title against David Lemieux in Montreal on December 16.
The unbeaten 28-year-old from Hatfield faces a tough test in the third defence of the title he won against Ireland's Andy Lee almost two years ago, with Lemieux (38-3, 33KOs) fighting in his home city.
Southpaw Saunders (25-0, 12KOs) impressed last time out aganst Willie Monroe Jr, securing a landslide points win, and he had hoped to fight rival Gennady Golovkin but it now seems likely he will have a rematch with Saul Alvarez in the new year.
But Saunders knows he must impress in December against Lemieux, who was stopped by Golovkin - holder of the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight titles - back in October 2015.
"Lemieux looks good against ‘B level’ fighters, but he is now getting in the ring with someone who is far more superior and slicker than anyone he has ever been in with previously," said Saunders.
"I don’t just want the dog meat that Golovkin has left behind, I want the dog himself and when I come through this fight I will have him.
"Once I beat Lemieux I’ll be moving onto bigger fish - the winner of the rematch between Golovkin and Alvarez. I’m looking forward to a great fight."
Lemieux, 28, is a thunderous puncher with tremendous power in both hands, who captured the IBF world middleweight championship against Hassan N’Dam in 2015, knocking the then-world title holder down four times en route to a unanimous decision victory.
This year he blasted out title contender Curtis Stevens in a third-round knockout-of-the-year contender before earning a unanimous decision win against Marcos Reyes and he has set his sights firmly on the Englishman's title.
"It's time to be world champion again," said Lemieux. "Saunders is about to get destroyed. I'm going to be extremely ready for this fight and I'm going to inflict a lot of pain on Saunders. His 0 must go."
