David Lemieux vs. Gabriel Rosado: Preview and Prediction for Upcoming Bout
Rising middleweight contender David Lemieux faces tough veteran Gabriel Rosado this Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. With a little more than a 88 percent KO percentage, Lemieux is one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport.
But Rosado is a step up in competition, despite his journeyman's record. The Philadelphia native has given competitive rounds to some of boxing's best.
We could see a new potential title-challenger emerge this weekend in Brooklyn. Or we might see a respected veteran demonstrate that he's still not ready to go away.
Tale of the Tape
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| Per Boxrec | David Lemieux | Gabriel Rosado |
| Record: | 32-2, 30 KOs | 21-8, 13 KOs |
| Height: | 5'9.5" | 5'11.5" |
| Reach: | 70" | 71.5" |
| Weight: | 160 lbs | 160 lbs |
| Age: | 25 | 28 |
| Stance: | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Hometown: | Montreal, Quebec | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Rounds: | 98 | 201 |
Rosado is the lankier fighter, and he has fought much of his career at light middleweight. He'll want to keep the powerful Lemieux on the outside.
Lemieux's record looks more flashy, but Rosado has faced the better competition. The Philadelphia native is also the textbook definition of a hard-knocks fighter. Nobody ever protected him on his way up, and he has rarely been given a break he didn't earn.
Main Storylines
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Rosado has developed into something of an elite trial horse in the light middleweight and middleweight divisions. Despite his pedestrian record, his reputation is good enough so that a win over him means something.
Rosado gave Gennady Golovkin about as much resistance as the undefeated, WBA middleweight champion has encountered. I thought Rosado was fighting on very even terms against former WBO middleweight champion, Peter Quillin, until losing by Round 10 TKO, due to cuts.
Rosado was robbed in a split-decision loss to J'Leon Love, which was later turned to no-contest, due to Love failing a post-fight PED test. However, Rosado is riding a three-fight losing streak and was completely out-classed in his last fight, against rising light middleweight contender Jermell Charlo.
Rosado needs to win a fight, to keep getting the sort of paydays that make the risks of prizefighting worthwhile.
Lemieux will be a tough opponent to beat. The rising contender is a knockout artist. At just 25, he's already knocked out 30 of the 34 men he has faced.
Lemieux hit a big speed bump back in 2011, when he was stopped in seven rounds by Marco Antonio Rubio. He followed the loss to Rubio with a majority-decision loss to Joachim Alcine.
Since then, he has built himself back into a potential challenger. In his last fight, he looked spectacular, stopping former title-challenger Fernando Guerrero in just three rounds. An impressive performance against Rosado will put the Quebec native on the list for big fights at 160 pounds.
Strengths
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David Lemieux is a knockout artist, with dangerous power in both hands. He has a monster left hook but can also end a fight with a straight right or right uppercut.
Lemieux is a relentless attacker, and when he has an opponent in trouble, he has the ability to finish things off in a hurry.
Gabriel Rosado is a tough and smart veteran fighter. He has excellent length and can use it, but he also mixes it up well in close range.
He is very tough to hurt or slow down. He strings together punches in fluid combinations, from a tough variety of angles.
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Weaknesses
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David Lemieux proved absolutely unable to adjust in 2011 against Marco Antonio Rubio, a fighter who refused to wilt under the young slugger's heavy attack. Lemieux consistently finished his flurries and remained in a stationary position, as if waiting for Rubio to drop. It left him in bad position for a counterattack.
Lemieux believes absolutely in his own offense. He squares up and leaves a big target when he is on the attack.
Gabriel Rosado sometimes squares up when attacking and tends to leave space to be countered between his punches. But at this point, there is no question that his biggest weakness is the fact that he can be cut so easily above his eyes.
Rosado has suffered bad cuts in all of his recent fights. It was the reason he was stopped against Peter Quillin, and it has hurt him in every bout.
David Lemieux Will Win If...
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Lemieux needs to force the pace of this fight. He's got to put pressure on Rosado from the first round.
Hopefully Lemieux learned from his loss to Marco Antonio Rubio three years ago. Rosado is an extremely durable fighter, and if Lemieux stands in front of the Philadelphia native after delivering his combinations, waiting to watch Rosado fall, he's going to get drilled back with hard shots in return.
Lemieux needs to throw his combinations and then move into position to throw more. Against Fernando Guerrero in his last fight, Lemieux was much better at throwing his heavy shots from angles, rather than squared up.
Lemieux should be looking to target Rosado's left eye. It's an extremely vulnerable target.
Gabriel Rosado Will Win If...
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Rosado has to use his length to good advantage in this fight against Lemieux. He needs to dictate the pace behind his jab and disrupt Lemieux's attempts to attack by controlling both the pace and range of the fight.
Rosado can't afford to spend too much time banging on the inside. He simply cuts too easily at this point in his career. He's got to fight a smarter, more tactical fight. He's got to frustrate the power puncher, forcing him to continually reset.
When Lemieux manages to flurry, Rosado should look to play catch-and-return, covering up and then attacking aggressively in the space between Lemieux's punches.
If Rosado can catch Lemieux standing still at the end of an attack, he will have the opportunity to land some big shots.
Prediction
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This is not going to be an easy fight for David Lemieux. It should tell a lot about how much he has developed since losing to Marco Antonio Rubio three years ago, when he was just 22.
Lemieux is the kind of come-forward fighter whom the smart and tough Gabriel Rosado can have some success against. And I wouldn't be surprised to see him fight on even terms, or better, during the first part of the fight.
But Rosado's history of getting cut over the eyes is a problem at this point. A busy fighter like Lemieux is going to have a very good chance of opening it up.
I think that will be the difference in the fight. In a closely fought battle, I expect Lemieux to win on referee's stoppage in Round 8, due to cuts.
Lemieux is a valuable addition to the division. He'd make for a very good opponent against Gennady Golovkin, especially in Lemieux's home city of Montreal. The fight-mad citizens of that city would come out in big numbers to see their local hero fight the red-hot GGG.
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