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By: William Holmes
The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will be the host site for Saturday’s HBO Boxing After Dark broadcast. Three competitive fights with possible world title fights for the winners down the road will be televised. Two bouts will take place in the middleweight division and one bout will take place in the junior welterweight division.
Two boxers from Philadelphia, Gabriel Rosado and Hank Lundy, will be featured on Saturday’s card.
The following is a preview of all three televised fights.
James De La Rosa (23-2) vs. Huge Centeno (21-0); Middleweight Division
The first televised bout of the night will be between the undefeated twenty-three-year-old Hugo Centeno Jr. and the veteran twenty-seven-year-old James De La Rosa. Centeno had a successful amateur career and will have a three-and-a-half inch height and reach advantage over his older opponent.
Neither De La Rosa or Centeno are known for their knockout power. Centeno only has eleven stoppages on his record, with two of his past five fights resulting in a stoppage victory. De La Rosa has thirteen stoppage victories on his record, but only one of his last five bouts resulted in a stoppage victory. De La Rosa also has two losses in his previous five bouts.
De La Rosa was last seen inside a ring pulling a mild upset over Alfredo Angulo in September of this year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. That victory over a well known opponent is the reason why we will be seeing him on HBO. However, his two losses were to a two-loss Marcus Willis in April of 2013 and a four-loss Allen Conyers in January of 2011. De La Rosa’s other big victories have come against James Webb, Tim Coleman, and Tyrone Brunson.
Centeno has yet to taste defeat inside the ring. His biggest victories to date include Ayi Bruce, Gerardo Ibarra, and KeAndrae Leatherwood. He also defeated Allen Conyers, who previously defeated De La Rosa by decision in 2011.
Centeno was tested when he fought Philadelphia native Julian Williams in September of 2013 in Las Vegas: that bout ended in a no contest before the start of the fourth round due to an accidental head butt. However, Williams was ahead on the cards at the time of the stoppage.
De La Rosa can take a punch, as was evident in his victory against the hard hitting Angulo earlier this year, but Angulo doesn’t have the boxing ability of Centeno. This should be a tightly-contested fight, but Centeno has the talent to beat De La Rosa by decision.
Thomas Dulorme (21-1) vs. Hank Lundy (25-3-1); Junior Welterweight Division
This could be Hank Lundy’s last run at a legitimate title. He’s thirty years old and six years older than Dulorme, and he will also be giving up three inches in height as well as two inches in reach.
Lundy only has twelve stoppage victories on his resume, including only one of his past five bouts. Dulorme has fourteen stoppage victories on his resume, and two of his past five victories were the result of a stoppage.
Both Dulorme and Lundy had successful amateur careers. Lundy won the silver medal at the 2005 National Golden Gloves, while Dulorme won the Golden Gloves tournament in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
In addition to giving up height and reach, Lundy will also be the naturally smaller man inside the ring. He has spent most of his career fighting as a lightweight and only recently moved up to the junior welterweight division. His biggest victories to date have come against Ajose Olusegun, Angelo Santana, David Diaz, and Richard Abril. His losses have come to the tough Viktor Postol, Raymundo Beltran, and John Molina.
Dulorme’s lone professional loss came against Luis Abregu in a seventh round TKO in October of 2012. Dulorme was knocked down twice before is corner threw in the towel. His biggest victories to date include DeMarcus Corley and Karim Mayfield.
Dulorme is a good boxer, but his resume is still thin at this point of his career. His last fight was a close and boring decision against Karim Mayfield and if he’s pressed hard by his opponent he can fold. Lundy has been tested throughout his career and is willing to take a punch to give a punch.
Expect Dulorme to start off strong, but Lundy has the ability to get in tight on Dulorme and win a closely contested decision.
David Lemieux (32-2) vs. Gabriel Rosado (21-8); Middleweight Division
Gabriel Rosado was not given the main event of an HBO Boxing After Dark telecast because he’s about to fight for a world title or because of his record. He was given the main event because he’s a crowd pleaser with a tremendous amount of heart.
Rosado is twenty-eight-years-old and Lemieux is twenty-five. Rosado will be about an inch-and-a-half taller and longer inside the ring. Rosado has stopped thirteen of his opponents, but has only had one stoppage victory in his past five fights. Lemieux has an incredible thirty stoppage victories on his resume, including four of his past five fights.
Rosado didn’t start boxing until later in his life in comparison to most professionals, and had a relatively short amateur career. Lemieux has been boxing since he was nine years old and won the Canadian Amateur Championship three times.
Rosado has lost three of his past four bouts, but they were all against tough opposition. His losses have come against the undefeated Jermell Charlo, the undefeated Peter Quillin, the undefeated Gennady Golovkin, and losses earlier in his career to Derek Ennis, Fernando Guerrero, and Alfredo Angulo. Many felt he should have been awarded a victory against J’Leon Love before the decision loss was overturned due to a banned diuretic. He has also beaten the likes of Charles Whittaker, Sechew Powell, Jesus Soto Karass, Ayi Bruce, Jamaal Davis, Kassim Ouma, and Saul Roman.
Lemieux is a bit of an enigma in that he has spent his entire career fighting his home province of Quebec, Canada, and has never fought inside the United States. His two losses came in 2011 when he was stopped by Marco Antonio Rubio and lost a close decision to Joachim Alcine. However, Lemieux has won every fight since then.
Lemieux’s notable victories include former world title challenger Fernando Guerrero, Jose Torres, Hector Camacho Jr., and Elvin Ayala.
This is a tough fight to call. Lemieux has not faced anywhere near the tough competition of Rosado and has been slightly protected by never fighting outside of Quebec. Rosado, however, has been on a losing streak, albeit against tough opposition, and hasn’t won a fight since 2012.
Rosado is going to have his moments, but Lemieux has been riding a wave of momentum that should lead him to a victory. However, he will find it difficult to stop Rosado.
