Knockout sensation David Lemieux (21-0 20KO) entered unchartered territories Saturday as he forced to go the distance against Jason Naugler (18-12-1 11KO), easily scoring a 100-89 victory on all three scorecards in his first headline appearance Saturday at the Casino de Montreal. Lemieux captures the vacant Canadian super-middleweight championship with the victory after dispatching his first twenty opponents in less than five rounds. Lemieux scored a knockdown in the second round, catching Naugler who has only been stopped once with a right hand and sending the Nova Scotian feet flying out from under him. Naugler proved to be a tough nut to crack as he absorbed the best that Lemieux had to offer and was able to offer back.

“My arms are sore,” joked Naugler as he dropped by the post-fight press conference to offer up his congratulations to Lemieux.

“Mine are too, from all the punches you forced me to throw,” countered Lemieux. Naugler has provided rounds and gone the distance for a myriad of quality fighters in the past, including Chad Dawson, Jesse Brinkley and Jean Paul Mendy and Saturday was no different as Lemieux got the workout of his young career, forced to go twice as far as his longest fight. Lemieux who becomes Canadian super-middleweight champion still plans on campaigning as a middleweight on the world stage, a revelation that had Naugler shaking his head. “He’s going to hurt people at that weight,” reasoned Naugler whose face looked like it had been through a meat grinder.

“It’s one less title to worry about,” said the new champion of the red leather bauble. “I want one title and that’s the world title. I was very happy to do ten today. I was still fresh in the final round, it even surprised me. There was no difference in the first or the tenth, I was fresh, I could have done fifteen if that was necessary. But I was still going for it, with ten seconds left in the tenth round, I was still trying to finish it. It was the first time that Somebody was going to give me rounds.”

With the longest Canadian knockout streak to start a career now history, Lemieux can go on to other things and further his development. “I think this proves he’s not just a one-dimensional fighter,” said trainer Russ Anber. “He showed a diversity and versatility, he showed he can go ten. He’s a good as an inside fighter as there is in Canada and not too many rival him in the world in that regard.”

Indeed the twenty year old spent much time with his head pressed against the left shoulder of Naugler ripping punches on the inside and get great leverage on them, forcing his opponent to try his best to hold. Naugler did what he does best to force his opponents into long fights. He’d fight close and tie up, move at a distance and force Lemieux to chase, and he still threw back keeping things honest for the duration. He was outmanned but gave Lemieux more than the majority of Lemieux’s first twenty combined.

Only in the sixth round did Lemieux start loading up on his punches, but for the majority he was fluid and conserved his energy well, never fighting outside of himself.

“I wasn’t looking for the knockout,” said Lemieux of the day. “I wanted to see what he had in the first, I didn’t expect it to go ten, but I was thankful for the rounds.”

Trainer Russ Anber summed it up by saying, “When power isn’t enough, he turns up the volume, I had one world champion at 160 pounds with Otis Grant, I hope to have another at 160 with David Lemieux.”

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email Dave Spencer at FightNews Canada