Canada’s Lemieux to face Tapia in first bout since losing middleweight title

MONTREAL – David Lemieux of Montreal will face Glen Tapia in his first bout since losing the International Boxing Federation middleweight title.

The battle between Lemieux (34-3-0) and Tapia (23-2-0) will be on the undercard of a middleweight title fight between Mexican star Saul (Canelo) Alvarez and Amir Khan on May 7 in Las Vegas.

Tapia confirmed the bout on Twitter on Thursday.

Lemieux won the IBF title on June 20 with a unanimous decision over Hassan N’Dam but lost it in his next outing on Oct. 17 in a title unification bout in New York, where he was stopped in eight one-sided rounds by Gennady Golovkin.

The free-swinging 27-year-old was supposed to make his comeback on Saturday, but couldn’t make a 163-pound catchweight, causing a scheduled fight with James de la Rosa to be cancelled. Lemieux’s team said an illness during training camp prevented him from making weight.

Tapia is to move up from light middleweight (154 pounds) to face Lemieux. It will be the first fight in almost a year for the Passaic, N.J., native, who lost in four rounds to Frenchman Michel Soro last May 8.

Reports said Tapia signed with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, which also promotes Lemieux, to land the fight.

Two other Canadians are scheduled for title fights.

On March 26, Kevin Bizier (25-2) of Quebec City will take on IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (35-0) in Sheffield, England. Bizier’s only two losses were to JoJo Dan of Montreal, who lost in four rounds to Brook last March.

Former IBF super-middleweight champ Lucian Bute (32-3) of Montreal will take on Swedish WBC champion Badou Jack (20-1-1) on April 30 at a site yet to be determined. The 36-year-old Bute held his title from 2007 to 2012. He got back into contention with a strong showing in a 12-round loss to IBF champ James DeGale in November.