David Lemieux Public Workout

In downtown Montreal, there are few buildings more historic than “The Old Forum,” as it’s commonly referred to now. Not only was it the home of the Montreal Canadiens for seven decades and where the team won so many of their record 24 Stanley Cups, it was also the site of some historic boxing matches, most notably the all-time great battle between Archie Moore and Yvon Durelle back in 1958. The Canadiens moved to the Bell Centre in 1996 and The Forum was soon covered in metal and turned into a shopping centre and ‘multiplex’ cinema.

Yesterday the historic building hosted David Lemieux and his team as Eye of the Tiger Management and Golden Boy Promotions held a public workout for the man getting set to challenge one of the most dangerous fighters alive, Gennady Golovkin.

The Fight City was on hand to see Lemieux skip rope, shadow box and work the training mitts and punching bags in front of an audience made up of mostly people with cameras and microphones. Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins were on hand, as well as EOTTM chief Camille Estephan, as everyone gets set for Lemieux’s biggest challenge to date, by far.

Fresh off his big win over Hassan N’Dam, Lemieux is still seen as a long shot by most, with some odds-makers dubbing Lemieux a 15 to 1 underdog. But it was all smiles for the cameras yesterday, with De La Hoya loudly promising everyone a knockout win for “Canada’s next champion.” We’ll see on October 17. Check out the video for more training action plus Bernard Hopkins on the “good ghosts” in Montreal.

All photos by Manny Montreal.