A hand injury has forced David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) to withdraw from his 168-pound debut against London's John "The Gorilla" Ryder (27-4, 15 KOs). Lemieux-Ryder was set for May 4th at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena as the chief support of Saul "Canelo" Alvarez's world middleweight title defense against Daniel Jacobs. Lemieux injured his right hand during a sparring session, and his doctor has recommended that he rest for eight weeks before returning to the gym.  Details for a replacement bout will be announced shortly. Alvarez-Jacobs will continue as planned on Saturday, May 4th.

 

Lemieux, a 30-year-old native of Montreal, Canada, is disappointed at his injury, but promises to return stronger than ever.  ''Training camp was going really great," said David Lemieux."I felt in tremendous shape, the strongest I'd ever felt in my entire career. But, I will be back soon. Hopefully, the fans will understand. I promise I will make it up to them once I'm healed."

 

Lemieux's manager, Camille Estephan, said,  "I'm very disappointed since he was in the best shape of his life both in the gym and in the ring. We will take the time to heal his hand and get right back in the chase for a world title."

 

"It's very unfortunate that David Lemieux's return has been postponed," said Eric Gomez, President of Golden Boy. "But this is boxing, and these things happen. We wish David a speedy recovery and look forward to his return, so he can make big waves at 168 pounds."