Saunders beats Lemieux to retain WBO title

Billy Joe Saunders toyed with frustrated David Lemieux in his hometown for a one-sided victory in a successful World Boxing Organization middleweight title defence on Saturday night.

Saunders (26-0) made a third defence of the title the British fighter won from Andy Lee in 2015 and showed he could be a force in the division that is currently ruled by stars Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.

Lemieux (38-3), a former International Boxing Federation champion, fell short in his bid to become the first Canadian since Arturo Gatti to win a second title.

Saunders had Lemieux off balance from the outset, making the Laval resident miss while darting in to land shots seemingly at will.

Canadian judge Benoit Roussel scored it a 120-108, Briton Phil Edwards had it 118-110 and Gerardo Martinez of Puerto Rico 117-111, all for Saunders. Only the third and sixth rounds were close until the final two rounds that Saunders mainly spent dancing out of Lemieux's reach.