Golden Boy Promotions alongside Eye of the Tiger Management held a roundtable in Las Vegas over the weekend to discuss the recent signing of David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs). The hard-hitting Montreal native’s next bout was confirmed to be broadcasted on HBO and Lemieux expressed his interest in fighting the best in the middleweight division.
Check out the full collection of quotes here, the most intriguing of which came from Oscar De La Hoya, touting a potential future clash against Canelo Alvarez.
DAVID LEMIEUX
“I have put in the work. What you saw in Brooklyn was only 50 percent of what I can do and I feel like I can be a lot better. I want to show that in my next fight.
“I fear no man, I want to go after the top of the food chain. Oscar and Bernard came up fighting the best and I am of the same mind.
“Canelo is a younger, hungrier fighter. He is explosive. He is a tough fighter and it would be a good match up.
“Everyone is on the list. I want to fight the best.
“The reason I started so young was because I was a trouble maker. I was fighting in the streets. My neighbor was a boxer and he told me to come fight real fighters. I got my ass kicked a few times but I fell in love with it.
“We want to make a good run at 160 and then think about moving up in weight.
“I have always liked power punchers and I respect others’ styles and other champions, but I never mimic them.”
OSCAR DE LA HOYA
“We are exploring every option. We can go to Montreal, we can go back to New York City, we can come to Las Vegas; that’s the beauty of David. He can fight anywhere and people will come out to watch him.
“He’s still growing. We haven’t seen his full potential which is very exciting. He has explosiveness and power.
“We will be working hand and hand with Eye of the Tiger Management. We are partners and we want the best fights, the best deals. We will be working together in the best interest for David.
“A future fight with Canelo is possible. Canelo wants to fight the best. Lemieux wants to fight the best. For now we want to focus on 160-pounds weight class and on Cotto, Andy lee and Golovkin.”
BERNARD HOPKINS
“We got this guy [Lemieux], he is tough. I know Gabriel Rosado and he handled him easily. I know what I am looking at. I have an eye for talent and he has it.
“We are going to continue and show you that we will put on the best fights and give the fans quality. I’m in it to make the best fights. The ratings speak for themselves. The fans speak for themselves. Judge us by the quality of the matches you see and don’t get caught up in the ‘feelings’ of it.
“I want to put a call out to everyone, that is how Oscar was brought up, that is how I was brought up, fighting the best.
“Three things about David: one, he signed with Golden Boy Promotions; two, he has talent in many ways, not only is he a fan favorite he is a good defensive fighter; three, he has good looks.
“I am seeing now the molding of another legacy, his legacy. But at the end of the day he has an opportunity in the middle weight division, I am glad to be here with a middleweight who I feel already has a lot of respect.
CAMILLE ESTEPHAN
“Canelo is on the list. Cotto is on the list. Golovkin is on the list. Andy Lee is on the list. Everyone is on the list.
“I definitely think he is the most popular boxer, the numbers prove it. He has a lot of potential and the sky is the limit.
“I got a call yesterday from someone in the boxing world about how exciting it is to be working with Golden Boy and he said ‘David is like a sunshine that beams on the world of boxing’ and it is very heartwarming. It’s heartwarming to sit down with Oscar, Bernard and Eric, whom I have gotten to know very well since the Rosado fight. This is great group of people and I think that we can build something together that will make a huge impact in the boxing world.
“David is the one guy, that as soon as I saw him the first time in the gym, the first sit-up he did and the last sit-up he did were exactly the same, he doesn’t cheat. He has the ultimate confidence because he doesn’t cheat himself and I have the ultimate respect for him. I am very proud of him as a person.
ERIC GOMEZ
“After the Rosado fight, Lemieux was impressive and we began talks with Camille. People love David and it made sense. David has an exciting style.
“We are looking at HBO, the ratings against Rosado were some of the best all year. They are very excited about David.”
