(Photo Credit/Will Hart) By Dan Ambrose: Gabriel Rosado (21-5, 13 KO’s) doesn’t seem to realize that he’s been picked out as the sacrificial lamb for WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21 KO’s) to destroy in an HBO televised mismatch on January 19th at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York, USA.

Rosado, who I don’t consider a big puncher at all, sees himself as being a threat to Golovkin due to his power and experience.

Rosado said to RingTV “I don’t think he’s [Golovkin] faced a puncher like me. So the question is can he handle my power? He hasn’t been in with a guy as experienced as me.”

At the pro level, Golovkin’s last opponent Grzegorz Proksa is definitely a bigger puncher than Rosado could ever hope to be. Proksa may be a little unorthodox and clumsy on his feet, but he can really punch. He showed that in his fights before Golovkin and he showed it in the fight itself. The problem was Golovkin kept hurting him with his own shots and knocking him down again and again.

Rosado is more of a step down for Golovkin from Proksa, at least in the skills and power department. Rosado is a better talker than Proksa and he can probably win an argument with Golovkin is if this was a speak and debate class instead of a fight. However, this is boxing and Rosado’s bragging about himself isn’t going to help him one big when it comes to stepping inside of the ring on January 19th against Golovkin.

Rosado has already been exposed by the slow as molasses Alfredo Angulo, who knocked Rosado out in two rounds back in 2010. Angulo put Rosado down twice in the 2nd before the fight was eventually halted. But before Angulo even dropped Rosado for the first time, he was hurting him with every punch and it was pretty clear that Rosado just didn’t have the chin to take Angulo’s big shots. Now Rosado’s facing an even bigger puncher with Golovkin, and there’s not much he’s going to be able to do in this fight other than lose.