The middleweight division is quickly becoming one of the most exciting weight classes in the sport, with fighters such as Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Peter Quillin and others highlighting the division. Hard punching contender, David Lemieux, hopes to add his name to that list and also hopes to capture a title belt before the end of 2015.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with David Lemieux, I speak to him about his breakout year in boxing that included a TKO10 win over Gabriel Rosado. Lemieux also talks about his first career defeat and what he has changed since that loss. Additionally, David discusses what he would like to do next and what he thinks working with Golden Boy Promotions will do for his career. Here is what David Lemieux has to say.

Jenna J: You had a breakout year in 2014 and you ended it in style against Gabriel Rosado. How do you feel about the year you had?

David Lemieux: Very happy with 2014. I’ve been working on a lot of different things, we’ve been having a lot of good opponents and I did what I had to do and I had great results against Guerrero before Rosado, a great third round knockout against him. Then we headed up to New York to fight Rosado, who’s a very good fighter and a very tough guy, a tenth round TKO, it went great. I was very happy with the results, I’ve been working very hard to be coming to this and everything is going according to plan. Everything is great.

Jenna J: You won most of the rounds over Rosado but he came back pretty strong in the fourth round, did he hurt you at all in that fight?

David Lemieux: No, I was never hurt in the fight but he did catch me when I had my guard down a few shots but nothing that was to be worried about. In the third round, when I got him with an uppercut in the right eye and I broke his orbital bone, for him to continue and to be fighting like that, I was very surprised. He’s a tough guy and I did what we had to do. There were a lot of things that were happening before the fight but thank God everything went well on December 6th.

Jenna J: What did you take the most out of your performance?

David Lemieux: I didn’t really take anything, but people wanted to see me do rounds, to see how my stamina was because they think that maybe I don’t have enough gas after the fourth round. I’m always very confident in my abilities and when I prepare for a twelve round fight, it’s a strong David Lemieux from the first round to the twelfth round.

I showed people what I can do and that I can be strong from the first round to the last round and my power didn’t diminish and my pace didn’t slow down later on. I was actually in very good shape and this is only going to go up from here on. People wanted to see me do rounds and that’s what they got.

Jenna J: People do question your stamina because of the Marco Antonio Rubio fight. What has improved the most in you since then?

David Lemieux: It’s a very simple answer, it’s two different fighters from the Rubio fight and the fighter I am today. I changed everything. I have power, I’ve always had power since the beginning of my career but the mental part, the physical part, the conditioning, everything has changed. The trainers have changed, I have the best team around me now.

I know what it is to be at that level, it is the understanding and the doing and the team I have with me. It’s nothing comparable to the guy I was with Rubio back then, it’s like day and night. Things happen for a reason, to whether wake up or to get out of the race. I woke up and that’s what I’ve been showing ever since, to everybody that has doubts.

I don’t really care if people have doubts, I put up the best performance I can every fight, people either like it or not. I always give my best, it’s for them to judge it the way they see it because that’s what it is. I can say all I want to say but it’s the doing that the people want to see, not the saying.

Jenna J: You made a very big change in 2015, you signed with Golden Boy Promotions. What did you choose to make that move?

David Lemieux: Yeah because Golden Boy Promotions are the best in the business right now and we wanted to be with the best because we want to be the best. Everybody I have around me, I consider them top quality people in everything they do, whether it’s in boxing, either it’s in business, either it’s in conditioning training or nutrition.

We wanted to get the best out of everybody and Golden Boy is not just going to take anybody in their team, they wanted to see if I had what it takes and in 2014 they saw I do have what it takes and that’s when they approached me and here we are together now and it’s going great. It’s great to be among the best with Golden Boy, Oscar and Bernard, it’s a great team and we’re very happy to be with them.

Jenna J: Is there any worry about your former promoter? Something came out about that, are there any fears about anything causing a delay in your career?

David Lemieux: All that has been taken care of with my manager and the lawyers and everything. There is only noise that’s being put out but there’s nothing to be concerned about and everything is going to be taken care of very soon so there is no problems and nothing I should be worried about. All those details are for the manager and lawyers to take care of, but there’s nothing to be concerned about.

Jenna J: A lot of people are looking forward to seeing you back in the ring, do you have your eyes on any particular fighter out there? Do you see a title shot for you?

David Lemieux: Yeah for sure. I want to have a big surprise in the world, for sure there’s a lot of good fighters. To be the best you must beat the best, that’s the mentality I have and a lot of top fighters out there in the middleweight division, it’s a very busy division, but I’m ready to fight any of them.

I’m really not worried about none of them, but it’s a business and there’s certain steps you have to take before you reach the top steps. I’m ready to fight all those guys but for sure things have to be right. As long as everything is fair for everybody, then it’s perfect for me. I’m not worried about nobody, it just has to be in the right direction.

Jenna J: After your last fight, HBO mentioned that they would want to see you in a fight with Gennady Golovkin. Is that a fight that interests you?

David Lemieux: Gennady Golovkin, I would love to fight him. It would be a very good fight with him, it would be a great fight for everybody but there is a lot of different middleweights also, but whoever best deal is what I’m looking for right now, if Gennady Golovkin is gonna have the best deal then for sure I would love to fight him or whoever is ready to give us the best deal and that’s who we want, it’s part of the game.