A crowd of 6,532 at Barclays Center were treated to a special performance from two warriors Saturday night as David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs)stopped “King” Gabriel Rosado (21-9, 13 KOs)in the 10th round of a very competitive main event on HBO Boxing After Dark.
The Montreal-native Lemieux retained his NABF Middleweight title while displaying the incredible power that has put the entire middleweight division on notice. 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 stayed determined in round four however, taking numerous shots from Lemieux, even asking for more, 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.”
The fight remained competitive through the mid-rounds until Lemieux started to dominate the severely handicapped Rosado, whose eye began to swell in the second round and only got worse through out the brawl. The fight was called by the ringside doctor at 2:25 in the tenth round with the technical knockout victory going to Lemieux.
“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.”
“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.”
The evening’s co-main event gave the fans a scorching fifth-round knockout when Oxnard, California’s Hugo “The Boss” Centeno Jr. (22-0, 12 KOs)delivered a vicious left hook to the head of San Benito, Texas’ James “The King” De La Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs)that abruptly ended the fight.
Centeno Jr. kept his undefeated record and controlled the fight after knocking De La Rosa down in round one, the first time, and eventually delivered the ultimate blow in round five.
“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.
“The fight just didn’t go my way. I got caught by a great punch, but I’ll be back,” said De La Rosa.
The televised opener saw Puerto Rico’s Thomas “El Frances” Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs)take home a hard earned victory by split decision over Philadelphia-native “Hammerin'” Hank Lundy (25-4-1, 12 KOs) with one judge scoring the fight 96-93 for Lundy and the other two judges giving the fight to Dulorme by scores of 96-93 and 97-92.
Dulorme scored a knockdown in the first round with a sharp right that put Lundy on the canvas. Dulorme was able to move effectively throughout the remainder of the bout, but the relentless attack of Lundy allowed him to get back in the fight. Eventually the speed and knockdown proved to be the difference in the narrow decision.
“It was harder than I thought. It was a very close fight and very tough fight,” said Dulorme. “He has a lot of experience and is a durable guy but I stuck to my game plan and did what I had to do to get the win. Now, I’m looking forward to a world title fight opportunity.”
“I overcame a knockdown and made it an ugly fight because I knew I had to,” said Lundy. “I thought I took the later rounds but had I stuck to my game plan in the early rounds I know I could have gotten him out of there.”
In non-televised action, a pair of New York City prospects took home unanimous decision victories in front of their home fans.
The Bronx’s Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez (17-1, 10 KOs) boxed effectively after knocking down James Winchester (16-11, 6 KOs) in the first round on his way to a unanimous decision by three scores of 100-88.
Brooklyn’s Zachary “Zungry” Ochoa (9-0, 4 KOs) scored knockdowns in the first two rounds before showing off his footwork and array of jabs against Jose Miguel Castro (4-2, 2 KOs) to stay undefeated with all three judges scoring the bout 60-52 in his favor.
Further non-televised action saw a trio of young prospects keep their perfect records intact as Puerto Rico’s John Karl Sosa (12-0, 6 KOs) defeated Jason Thompson (5-9-4, 4 KOs) by unanimous decision with scores of 80-72 and 79-73 twice.
Washington, D.C. prospect D’Mitrius Ballard (8-0, 7 KOs) scored a second-round knockout over Tylon Burris (4-3, 2 KOs) and in the evening’s opening bout fellow D.C. prospect Lamont Roach Jr. (5-0, 2 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Alexander Charneco (2-1, 2 KOs) by the scores of 40-34 and 40-35 twice.
