NEW STAR ON THE BROOKLYN BLOCK? “If You’re Worried About ‘Triple G’, There’s a New Name…Lemieux”

Published

10 years ago

October 29, 2014

David Lemieux, the Canadian power puncher who is auditioning for a star slot on Dec. 6, on HBO, walked up to Barclays Center, the new-ish building in the hottest borough of NYC, Brooklyn.

Wow. This ain’t the Bell Centre, he thought to himself, while checking out the big barn with manager Camille Estephan. This place is BIG. And shiny. And a proper place for an ascent up the ladder, to where I want to be, which is fighting the Canelos, the Cottos, the Golovkins.

Ah, but that proverbial “first things first.” The 32-2 hitter, who impressed mightily in his last time out, stopping Fernando Guerrero (KO3) in Montreal at the Bell in May, has to get past Gabriel Rosado. That is something that has been done, a few times in fact, as the North Philly hitter has lost four straight, to Golovkin, J’Leon Love, Peter Quillin and Jermell Charlo in his last outing, on Jan. 25. That said, he’s no steppingstone sort who will know his role, show up to put up a plausible fight, wing a few hay/praymakers, and “win” by going the distance. This is a guy who can be stopped, though, as Fredo Angulo, Peter Quillin and Golovkin have proven. The task for Lemieux, who lost to Marco Antonio Rubio (by TKO7) in his previous star audition (in 2011) and then Joachim Alcine in his next outing (12-10-11), via MD12, will be to stop Rosado, and in fine fashion.

“I’m going to be a beast on December 6 and it’s going to be dangerous,” Lemieux said at a Wednesday presser at Barclays, touting the Dec. 6 show, which has tix on sale starting at $15 (!) bucks. “I can’t wait. I’ve always trained hard, for people who don’t know my background; I’ve never cheated myself. I always put in all the work in the gym.”

And here’s his quote that I dug so much, which told me he’s thinking grande, he’s craving a star-making showing on Dec. 6, on a show promoter by Golden Boy, whose boss Oscar de Hoya presided over the presser. “Not everybody knows me here, but after December 6, you will,” said the 28-year-old. “If you’re worried about ‘Triple G’, there’s a new name that’s coming in…Lemieux. Wait until you see my fight and then we will speak.”

Indeed. Check out BoxingChannel.TV for coverage format he presser.

http://www.boxingchannel.tv/david-lemieux-vs-gabriel-rosado-december-6-at-barclays-center

Also, here is a press release which went out this afternoon, with quotes from some of the other principals.

DAVID LEMIEUX, NABF Middleweight Champion

“Thank you to everybody for being here, it is a great honor and great opportunity for me to be able to fight in Brooklyn at Barclays Center.

“I’m very excited. I didn’t sleep much last night just getting excited to talk in front of you all.

“I can’t wait for the fight. Gabriel Rosado is a great fighter. He comes to fight and he’s a very tough opponent. However, I’ve never felt so strong in a camp and trained so well. If you saw my fight against Fernando Guerrero, it is going to be a new David again.

“I’m going to be a beast on December 6 and it’s going to be dangerous. I can’t wait. I’ve always trained hard, for people who don’t know my background; I’ve never cheated myself. I always put in all the work in the gym.

“We’ve had some miscalculations and setbacks, but we’re back on track and we’re here to stay on top of the pyramid.

“Brooklyn is a great city, when we landed here we could feel the energy. Then when we came here in front of Barclays Center we said, ‘wow’. This feels like home.

“Not everybody knows me here, but after December 6, you will. If you’re worried about ‘Triple G’, there’s a new name that’s coming in…Lemieux. Wait until you see my fight and then we will speak.

“I’m here to put on the best show and with Rosado, he’s a great fighter so it’s going to be fireworks and dynamite in the arena. I can’t wait.”

GABRIEL ROSADO, Middleweight Contender

“It’s interesting how this fight came about. I was supposed to be the co-main event on Hopkins’ card against Kirkland and that fight fell through. Golden Boy told me not to worry and they stuck to their word. The next thing you know, I’m the main event. One door closes another one opens.

“I’ve been in a lot of fights that were controversial, but that is boxing. Fans love the drama. Now I have the opportunity to showcase my talent.

“Jesse Reid [Rosado’s trainer] has brought new life to boxing for me. A lot of the fights that I study are old fights so I knew about Jesse. One day I needed Jesse to wrap my hands and I realized this was the guy for me.

“I respect Lemieux. He is a tough fighter. Just because I respect him doesn’t mean I am going to give him too much respect [in the ring].

“When it comes to the caliber of fighters I have faced, I’ve faced better names. I need to use my experience and intelligence in this fight.

“I’m excited to fight in New York City – the Mecca of boxing. It’s close to Philadelphia so I know the fans are going to come out. I’m Puerto Rican and there’s a big Puerto Rican population in New York and all of the Latinos will want to watch this fight.

“I’m excited and I can’t wait to put on a show.”

EDDIE GOMEZ, Junior Middleweight Contender

“As we all know, my last fight did not go in my favor. I lost my first fight as a professional, so now I’m just looking to bounce back and do what I have to do.

“I’m happy to be fighting again at Barclays Center, so a lot of my friends and family will come out and show support. You never know, my luck might just be right here at home.

“I’m looking to put on an impressive show in my first comeback fight. I’m happy to be fighting before Christmas and New Years and I’m hoping to close out the year with a good victory.”

ZACHARY OCHOA, Junior Welterweight Prospect

“Since I’ve started boxing I’ve dreamed of an introduction like that from Oscar De La Hoya. I’ve studied him for a long time, especially that jab. I want to thank him and Golden Boy Promotions.

“I want to thank Brett Yormark, Barclays Center and everyone who gave me the opportunity to fight on this great stage.

“It’s going to be a great fight, this has been my best year since signing with Golden Boy and I’m ready to go.”

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, President & Founder of Golden Boy Promotions

“It is satisfying to know that we are coming back once again to the ‘Mecca of Boxing’ in New York – Barclays Center and to be able to give the fight fans real fights that they deserve to see.

“What better venue than Barclays Center? We are always happy to be back in a town where boxing is appreciated this much. The fight fans know boxing. The fight fans live for boxing here in Brooklyn.

“It is very important for Golden Boy Promotions and Barclays Center to keep bringing boxing back to Brooklyn on a regular basis. This is quite a treat for us. Quite a treat for Barclays Center because we know that the fight fans are going to get close to 10 competitive fights from top to bottom.

“I’m really happy to be working with CES Boxing, Gary Shaw Productions and Eye of the Tiger Management. It shows the direction in which Golden Boy Promotions is heading – in terms of bringing the best fights to the fans. It shows that Golden Boy Promotions is willing to work with anybody in order to satisfy the boxing fans.

“The three televised fights are competitive, compelling fights that the fans will enjoy. There is a lot at stake in the 150-pound and 160-pound weight ranges – you think tough competition. There will be no losers because every fighter is going to give it their all. Every fighter knows what is at stake.

“We are really excited about all of the fights on this card. The winners will move on to bigger and better things.”

CAMILLE ESTEPHAN, President of Eye of the Tiger Managements

“We spoke for a while about this and now it is a dream come true. What better place than Barclays Center, what a beautiful place. Being here in New York City, all I can think is ‘wow.’

“We’ve been working towards this for a long time, way before any news about Rosado’s other fights. We have a lot of respect for Rosado and he is a guy that is respected in boxing. What we want to do is stamp the boxing world with David Lemieux.

“A couple of years ago when David and I started working together, we were sitting in a restaurant planning out what we wanted to do. We were sitting near a nice wall of bricks. There are a lot of difficulties in a boxer’s career, and what I said to him is that we we’re going to build a wall, every single day in the gym and every day is another brick in that wall. One day will end up with a great wall.

“We have a grand vision and we’re going to prove it on Dec. 6. We think the best possible place to do it is here so we want to thank everyone who made it possible.

“We’re going to have lots of people from Montreal coming, they’re ready. They’re coming to support David. There are some other great fights on that night in Montreal, but a poll started online saying which fight people wanted to see most. So far 58 percent want to see David’s fight, so hopefully we will bring them hear with us.

JESSE REID, Rosado’s Trainer

“It’s my pleasure to be here. I first saw Gabe on television and he reminded me of the old time fighters like Rocky Graziano. You look at some of these young souls and you see tremendous power, tremendous speed and a big heart.

“I told my son, ‘If I could ever get a chance to work with this young man, I would love it.’ I’ve had some great champions in Johnny Tapia, Roger Mayweather, Hector Camacho and others. This young man has really brought my heart back into boxing. I’m 72-years-old and he makes me feel like I’m 21.

“He’s ready to fight anyone at any time, but he also has tremendous boxing ability and I don’t think that has ever been tapped into and I have the opportunity to work on these things.

“The aggressiveness of Gabriel Rosado is what makes boxing worthwhile.”

BRETT YORMARK, CEO of Barclays Center

“We are extremely excited to be hosting another great night of boxing. We thank Golden Boy Promotions for its support of boxing in Brooklyn and Barclays Center.

“This is the ninth boxing event with Golden Boy Promotions. We are very proud of that. Golden Boy put us on the map in terms of our boxing promotion in Brooklyn. We have only been open for a little more than 24 months and I think we have certainly become the home of boxing in the northeast.

“When I look back at 2014, it was a great year of boxing at Barclays Center. I am looking forward to ending it on a high note on December 6.

“I truly believe that 2015 will be our biggest year ever when it comes to boxing in Brooklyn and with the help of Golden Boy, we will continue to bring great fights.”

# # #

Lemieux vs. Rosado is a 12 round NABF middleweight bout which is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye Of The Tiger Management and sponsored by Corona Extra, AT&T and Mexico – Live It To Believe It! Dulorme vs. Lundy is a 10-round junior welterweight bout promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions and CES Boxing. The HBO Boxing After Dark telecast begins at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Tickets priced at $150, $80, $50, $25 and $15, plus applicable taxes and service charges are on sale now and are available for purchase at www.barclayscenter.com, www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 800-745-3000 and at the American Express Box Office. For group tickets, please call 800-GROUP-BK.

Photo Credit – Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

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Michael Woods

Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Published

13 hours ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-322-Super-Welter-Week-in-SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2025

TSS Press

TSS-Salutes-Thomas-Hauser-and-his-Bernie-Award-Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.

Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.

Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11^th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)

Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.

The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).

Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”

A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.

Other winners:

Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon

Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney

Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire

Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix

The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.

The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.

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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Mekhrubon-Sanginov-whose-Heroism-Nearly-Proved-Fatal-Returns-on-Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.

He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.

Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.

“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.

“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”

“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)

Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.

During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”

He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.

He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.

On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.

Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.

If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.

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