David Lemieux was once a rising prospect with power who seemingly had a lot of big payday bouts ahead of him until he suffered an upset knockout loss on national television to Marco Antonio Rubio. That loss was followed by another to Joachim Alcine, essentially wiping away Lemieux from the boxing public's collective memory.
Since those losses, Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) has quietly put together a winning streak, with his greatest victory in that streak coming Saturday in an impressive 10th round stoppage win over the always-tough Gabriel Rosado (21-9, 13 KOs) in front of 6,532 fans at the Barclays Center.
"I wanted to show everyone what I could do. He was better than I thought but I thought we had a great fight and I hope everyone enjoyed it," said Lemieux. "I feel like I'm as good as anybody in the division and I'm willing to fight anybody. I want to win a world title."
The win was on national television and has put Lemieux back in the thick of the middleweight division, as the Montreal-native retained his NABF Middleweight title while displaying his trademark punching power. Lemieux scored a knockdown in Round Three when he delivered a flurry that knocked the Philadelphia-born Rosado off-balance and put him on the canvas.
Rosado rallied in Round Four, at first taking numerous shots and even asking for more from his opponent, before he launched an attack that left Lemieux bloodied as he headed back to his corner.
"I responded to the test well, my preparation has been a lot different," said Lemieux. "I know he wanted to take me into deep waters but we have been practicing on explosiveness from the first part of the fight all the way to the end."
Rosada's tremendous heart could only take him so far however, as his left eye began to swell greatly and affected his ability to see Lemieux's punches. As such, Lemieux started to dominate and the fight was called by the ringside doctor at 2:25 in the tenth round with the technical knockout victory going to Lemieux.
"He's a good fighter. In the second round he punched me in my eye and after it puffed up I couldn't see anything. I kept seeing three of him. It's just my luck," said Rosado. "I know I should have started the fight better, if I had taken control earlier I know it would have been different. But I know he's a good fighter and I take nothing away from him."
On the undercard, California's Hugo Centeno Jr. (22-0, 12 KOs) delivered a left hook to the head James De La Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs) that abruptly ended the fight and preserved his undefeated record.
"My timing was perfect. I've been practicing, we've been practicing turning into the southpaw stance and on my left hand," said Centeno Jr. "It worked perfectly. It landed beautifully. I had used it once before and I hadn't hurt anybody with it but tonight I did. The one punch knockout is a great feeling."
By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services
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