Are we seeing the spirit of Joe Louis?

David Lemieux isn't a fighter that was ever scheduled to appear in this column, that's why this is coming up at an usual timing considering how I originally intended to do this column. However Lemieux's fight with Elvin Ayala was a notable one. He was originally ignored due to the fact that many seemed to know about him more than I did and he also seemed a bit too highly ranked to be a prospect, he was 22-0 (21) highly tipped as one of the rising stars of Canada, he'd appeared on TV State side and had Canadian fans telling us about their power punching star. Yvon Michel was pushing him as the next big star to the Canadian rings and aged 21 he certainly had time on his side as he slowly stepped up his competition. Having stepped up in recent fights beating the likes of Walid Smichet (KO3), Delray Raines (KO2), Jason Naugler (decision over 10) and Donny McCrary (KO1) Elvin Ayala seemed the logical sort of next step.

Though early on the card Michel had seen one of his fighters upset, Sebastian Demers was stopped in the 3^rd round by exciting journeyman Brian Vera, was Ayala going to make it 0-2 for the promoter?

For many Ayala was a giant step up, Ayala 20-4-1 (9) had only been stopped once, by Arthur Abraham in the 12^th round of an IBF title fight in 2008. Although he had twice lost to David Banks they were close contests and a loss to the solid Simon Lujuan isn't anything to be ashamed by and also held Sergio Mora to a draw over 12. A win for Lemieux would put him on the B tier at worse, a fringe contender waiting for his chance for a 160 title fight. Though a loss would see him being shown up, making it obvious he was perhaps being rushed slightly, so which was it?

Also worth mentioning was the pre-fight controversy, Ayala's corner wanted to check on Lemieux's wraps, then the opposite happened causing both camps to re-wrap.

Lemieux is one of those rare types, like Gatti was and Oscar was, a good looking fighter, a genuine pretty boy that has the look that can draw in a cross over female audience. Good looks, power and youth, he has the ingredients to be a draw, though against a hardened fighter like Ayala you need to be more than just a pretty boy. Though he was quick to prove he was skilled, powerful, fast and simply brilliant, dropping the tough Ayala thrice in the first and forcing an automatic stoppage inside the opening minute.

Problem with including him as a prospect is that he's almost certainly already in the top 10's of many at middleweight hardly fair to consider him a prospect, despite the fact he's young and stupidly talented. Nailed on super star ready to really face the top 10 level of guys on a regular basis. Remember Ayala went 12 with Abraham, he couldn't last a round with Lemieux. The style, power, combination, speed...he reminded me a bit of the great Brown Bomber. In fact had Louis been a white middleweight it'd have been hard to tell the difference.

In an interesting result on the card Wayne John a 30 year old moved to 4-0 (2) by stopping the well respected but generally gate keeper level Patrice L'Heureux in 5 rounds. Could John be the next great North American heavyweight? Aged 30 he'll likely have to make his move in the next 3 to 4 years if he ever wants a title fight.