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Marc Ramsay, head trainer of David Lemieux, made what he felt was a career-saving decision to throw in the towel during the third round of his boxer’s contest with David Benavidez on Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona.
The former middleweight champion was hoping to capture more gold when he challenged Benavidez, with the WBC’s interim-super middleweight strap at stake.
Lemieux was hurt badly at the end of the first round, and nearly stopped when Benavidez was battering him with punches in the corner.
During the second, Lemieux was dropped hard and continued to get punished as his face was now becoming a bloody and swollen mess. Lemieux tried his best to fire back with hard combinations, but they were having no effect on Benavidez.
During the third, as Benavidez continued to land, Ramsay threw in the towel to save his man from further punishment.
“When David came back in the corner after the first round, I could see that he was listening to me well. I gave him technical points and I saw that he was still there. But I felt his legs weren’t there, and that’s problematic. He was unable to get away from striking distance or attack properly. He took Benavidez’s shots without having an adequate defense,” Ramsay told Radio Canada.
After the second round, Ramsay had informed Lemieux that he was giving him one more round to pull through and deliver the round of his life. The referee also came over to tell Lemieux to show him something, explained the coach.
“In a boxing match, you stop things when there are no more options and no way to turn it around. It just becomes nothing more than a risk. When I saw that David’s punches no longer had the same impact and that he was unable to defend himself, it was no longer worth it,” Ramsay said.