David Lemieux, Vergil Ortiz Jr. off of Canelo v. Fielding card inside MSG

Saturday, December 15 was supposed to be David Lemieux’s moment to shine. He would beat Tureano Johnson and face whoever ended up being the Middleweight Champion of the world in a bout between Canelo Alvarez and Rocky Fielding. Now, there are doubts whether he can even remain in the division.

It was announced that Lemieux has been taken off the card and the co-main event was scrapped. This is due to dehydration from his weight cut.

“The safety of our fighters is always of the highest concern to us,” said CEO and Chairman of Golden Boy Promotions in a statement. “Though we understand that David Lemieux is in stable condition, we must always execute precaution when dealing with the health of our fighters, especially since we know the consequence of improperly cutting weight. That said, we have spoken with our partners at Eye of The Tiger Management and have canceled this fight. We wish Lemieux the very best and know that he will come back stronger than ever.”

An ongoing issue for Lemieux (40-4), the former champion has had three separate occasions where weight cutting has affected his fights. This is all dating back to 2016. A debate has been started whether or not Lemieux can even cut it (literally and figurately) in the middleweight division. There is a super middleweight division, which is a kinder limit than 160 pounds. While Lemieux has refused to enter the division, he may end up not having a choice.

Now unable to compete, he may very well be passed over in the contender department. Daniel Jacobs, who has been rumored to be on the hunt for Canelo, might be pushed to the front of the line. He recently won the IBF Middleweight Title and is looking to become the true middleweight king.

Another fight that was canceled was a bout between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Omar Tienda. The former was scrapped due to the New York State Athletic Association not licensing him after Ortiz (11-0) underwent Lasik eye surgery a few months ago. Tienda (19-5) went through the same procedure not long ago, confusing and upsetting Ortiz.

https://twitter.com/VergilOrtiz/status/1073618270115299328

As the MMA world knows, the NYCAC can be an odd entity. It is unknown when the fights that were canceled will be made up.

With the fight card significantly reduced, expect Canelo v. Fielding on the DAZN app to have a lighter night than normal.