David Lemieux Beats Down Gabriel Rosado
On Saturday night at the Barclays Center, Canadian slugger David Lemieux put a whoopin on Gabriel Rosado. First off let me say that I have never thought much of Rosado to begin with and look at him more like a journeyman and gate keeper which his 21-9 records suggests. He has the “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” kind of thing working for him and he has never been able to shake it. Lemieux was way more active and landed the harder punches by far in this fight. Once he started to close Rosado’s eyes the fight was essentially over. I see a lot of people giving Rosado props for having heart but I am not among them. To me any professional boxer that gets in the ring is supposed to have heart and knows what they signed up for. At this point Gabe should think about hanging it up. This is 4 loses in his last 5 (BNB win was not a boxing match) and the 5th fight was changed to a no contest because of J’Leon Love’s failed drug test. I think he has gone as far as he can go in boxing and should look to find a new line of work. As far as Lemieux goes, I can’t wait to see him again. He and GGG would be a good fight while it lasts. Lemieux could definitely KO Quillin or Cotto as well. Will he beat any of the 3? I say maybe Quillin since he is the weakest of the 3 but with his power he definitely has a punchers chance against any of them.
Pascal Fight Ends… Bizarrely
On Saturday at the Belle Centre in Montreal, Jean Pascal took on Roberto Bolonti in fight that I don’t think anyone watched on TV but me (although I wish I didn’t in hindsight) for some reason. This fight ended in a very bizarre manner in the second round when Pascal landed a sucker punch on Bolonti as the referee was trying to break the fighters. Bolonti had already been down earlier in the round and had felt Pascals power to the body on a few occasions. The punch that Pascal landed was not particularly devastating to me but Bolonti went down like he had been shot and never got back up. I mean never too. I don’t like to say that someone is faking an injury but this man was faking an injury! They put this fool on a gurney, hooked him up with an oxygen mask and gave him a first class ride out of the Belle Centre in an ambulance. This was reminiscent of Kermit Cintron being knocked out of the ring and stretchered out to be honest. I feel bad for all those people who paid for the fight and didn’t get their money’s worth. Hopefully Bolonti is ok but if he is faking he should be ashamed of himself. Either way I doubt any major provider will have him back on their network period. Lord knows I don’t want to see him again.
Silver Lining
Earlier in the week news broke that Jean Pascal and Sergey Kovalev camps came to an agreement for the 2 to fight early next year. If there was any silver lining that came out of Bolonti playing hurt like Ezel’s “slip and fall” on Friday, it’s that we now get another big fight since Pascal never even broke a sweat in this one. Pascal is now the 3rd fighter to grow tired of Adonis Stevenson’s games and evasion tactics and just signed on to fight the true champ of the division in Kovalev. This fight will be a good fight for both but I see Kovalev having too much power and skill for Pascal. If Pascal can make it to the final bell I would be surprised but at least he has the courage to face the true champ and doesn’t act less than courageous like Stevenson.
Lundy Versus Delorme was “OK”
Hank Lundy fought Thomas Dulorme in the co-main event at the Barclay’s Center on Saturday night. The fight was just OK to me. Lundy is in the same boat as Gabe Rosado in my opinion. He is more of a gate keeper/ESPN fighter than a real contender. He does more talking in the ring than fighting most of the time and it cost him some early rounds versus Dulorme which in turn cost him the fight. Lundy was down at the end of the 1st round from a haymaker thrown by Dulorme and the power difference was truly evident. It looked as if Dulorme might just be too big and strong for Lundy but his power faded badly as the fight wore on. Both fighters were showing little skill while throwing home run punches early and often but not many actually connected. Dulorme showed an inability to adapt to the inside game as well as he should at this stage in his career and he is beginning to show flashes that he may just be a gatekeeper type of fighter as well. Lundy is going to have to go back to the bottom and work his way back up once again so that he can get a shot at a fringe contender like Dulorme and try to get over the hump but somehow I doubt that he ever will.
Cento KO’s De La Rosa
In another undercard bout at the Barclays Center, Hugo Cento Jr. knocked out James De La Rosa with a damn good left hand that didn’t look very hard to me but the way he threw the right jab to blind De La Rosa and changed levels while throwing the left was very impressive. De La Rosa did not have the best chin it seems and had no answers for the length and height of Cento at all. Cento is now 22-0 and is continuing to look very impressive. As he gets more experience he could be a very big force to be reckoned with due to his height and reach over just about anyone in the junior middleweight division.
Boxing Tidbits and Talk
- Aussie fighters Daniel Geale and Billy Dib got back into the win column this week with wins on Wednesday and Saturday respectfully. Both are former champions and both are good to watch so it is nice that they get back to their winning ways not only for them but for Australia’s boxing reputation that has taken a bit of a hit as of late.
- Amir Khan is talking again unfortunately. He is really trying to do everything that he can to get a big fight that he doesn’t deserve with Mayweather while avoiding countrymen Kell Brook or anyone dangerous for that matter. I am torn on him beating Devon Alexander. I mean if he wins we may be forced to watch him lose to Mayweather and if he loses we may be forced to watch Alexander lose to Mayweather. I think I am just hoping that neither one wins and we are not punished by having to watch Floyd beat an undeserving opponent.
- It was announced this week that Brandon Rios vs Mike Alvarado 3 will take place in January. The first 2 fights were good so I am down for the trilogy. I am favoring Rios by KO in the 3rd installment but I could also see Mike survive and outbox him like he did in the second contest. Either way it should be a good fight and at least we get a decent fight early in the year.
- It was also announced this week that 9 year old Kennedy Cunningham (daughter of Steve U.S.S. Cunningham) received her heart transplant and is doing very well. Sometimes we forget the fighters are just like us and face even bigger fights outside the ring but luckily this looks like one fight that Steve and Kennedy are going to win and that is truly a great victory.
- On another good note Adrien Broner bought an Army truck full of toys for kids in the community and handed them out. He plans to do this again before Christmas as well. As much as I dislike the way he carries himself and talks at times I must give credit where credit is due and say that he did a very good thing. I just wish he could show more humility and humanity all the time but we can’t always get what we want I suppose.
- It looks like Anthony Joshua and Kevin Johnson will indeed be getting it on in the ring early next year. This will be a good test for Joshua and will tell us where he is truly at. Johnson is not much of a threat in the power department but he is durable and has decent boxing abilities. If Joshua blows him out we can probably expect to see Joshua versus Fury next year sooner rather than later.
- Canelo has warned Mayweather that he is not moving from the May and September dates it seems. I am sure that this has Floyd quaking in his boots since he beat the dust off of Canelo in the ring and at the box office. I guess Canelo and Oscar have not learned their lesson when it comes to messing with Floyd Mayweather. Floyd is as stubborn as they come and he will definitely put them in their place if he wants to. Canelo and Cotto’s last 2 fights combined didn’t generate the PPV numbers Floyd did in his last fight so I don’t know what makes Canelo think that he can dictate anything to Mayweather at this point. As my Daddy used to tell me when I was young, “a hard head makes a soft behind.” If Canelo keeps threatening Mayweather he is going to learn that the hard way I think.
Picks for the Upcoming Week
- On a Thursday airing on ESPN 2 I have Jonathan Banks beating Antonio Tarver but I am not sure this fight is going to be very good. I also have Austin Trout winning against Luis Grajeda but with Trout’s suspect chin I could see him getting dropped once or twice.
- Friday on Showtime we have Erislandy Lara in what is bound to be a super boring fight with Ishe Smith in San Antonio, Texas. I’m going with Lara by hit and run. I’m also taking Christopher Pearson over Steve Martinez in what should be a decent fight.
- Saturday HBO Card
- Tim Bradley out classes Diego Chavez in a 12 round unanimous decision win.
- Andy Lee beats Matt Korobov for the vacant WBO middleweight title due to being more active and accurate.
- Mauricio Herrera beats Jose Benavidez in a decent scrap that ends up in a close UD.
- Saturday Showtime Card
- Amir Khan beats Devon Alexander by out boxing him and doing just enough to win although I do see Khan having some shaky moments in the bout due to his weak chin.
- Keith Thurman KO’s Leonard Bundu (whom Keith says is the closest thing to Mayweather) in the mid to late rounds once he gets his timing down.
- I also have Victor Ortiz, Abner Mares and Jermell Charlo winning versus there soft touches.
That’s all we got for this week but that is by far not all there was to talk about. Make sure that you catch the Boxing Voice weekly radio show live every Thursday and Sunday starting at 7pm (EST) or catch the podcast to get more insight and opinions on the world of boxing.
