Gabriel Rosado vs. Willie Monroe Jr on September 17

By Boxing News - 08/18/2016 - Comments

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By Dan Ambrose: Middleweights Willie Monroe Jr. (20-2, 6 KOs) and Gabriel Rosado (23-9, 13 KOs) have been added to the September 17 undercard of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Liam Smith card on HBO pay-per-view from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Monroe Jr. and Rosado will be fighting a 12 round fight.

Golden Boy Promotions is obviously putting the Rosado vs. Monroe fight together to build up the winner as a future opponent for their flagship fighter Canelo Alvarez. Rosado was one of the potential opponents for Canelo’s September fight. They went with unbeaten World Boxing Organization Liam Smith instead so that Canelo could win a title.

I guess it looks better having Canelo win a strap against an unbeaten fighter like Smith, even though he’s not highly rated by a lot of fans in the 154lb division. Facing Smith is clearly a situation where Canelo is going in the path of least resistance rather than taking on one of the more difficult champions or contenders at junior middleweight like Jermall Charlo, Jermell Charlo, Erislandy Lara, Julian Williams and Demetrius Andrade. Liam Smith is a champion in name only. He’s not ‘the champion’ at junior middleweight or even close to being that guy. He’s just a belt holder, who Canelo and Golden Boy are targeting for this fight in what appears to be a way of winning an easy belt.

You can argue that the paying boxing fans that tune in to watch the Canelo-Smith card aren’t getting much for their money, because Rosado and Monroe Jr. is not a great fight. Monroe, 29, isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies since being knocked out in six rounds by IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin a year ago in May 2015. Monroe Jr. has fought just once since that loss in beating John Thompson by a 10 round unanimous decision in June of this year.

Rosado is ranked #11 WBO, #12 WBC at middleweight, but he’s little more than a fringe contender at best. Golovkin knocked Rosado out in seven rounds in 2013 in a fight in which Rosado ran for six of the seven rounds. He only tried to fight Golovkin in the 5th, but was battered in that round. In the 6th, Golovkin hurt Rosado with an uppercut.

Rosado went back to running in the 7th, and then the fight was stopped. Rosado has lost four of his last seven fights. I can’t say that Rosado is a fighter that rates to be in the co-feature of the Canelo vs. Smith fight on HBO PPV. This would be a good fight for off television in my opinion, but definitely not for one where boxing fans are paying to see good top rated talent. I can’t see Monroe or Rosado ever winning world titles. For them to be in the co-feature, it’s disappointing to say the least.

Golden Boy was hoping to match their fighter Rosado against WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders for the Canelo-Smith card. They wanted to do this so that the U.S public could get a good chance to see Saunders fight, because they plan on matching Canelo against Saunders in December of this year to try and get him a world title at middleweight.

Unfortunately for Golden Boy and Canelo, Saunders balked at the idea of fighting Rosado, who he felt had suffered too many losses in the last three years of his career with him losing four times in his last seven fights. Saunders also turned down Monroe Jr. as a potential opponent. Saunders is now no longer an option for the Canelo vs. Smith card. However, that doesn’t mean that Saunders still isn’t a strong option for Canelo in December, because he definitely is.

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Just the fact that Saunders is the World Boxing Organization 160lb champion makes him a very desirable opponent for Canelo, and it’s likely that Golden Boy will still make that fight despite Saunders not going along with the program in agreeing to fight Monroe or Rosado on the Canelo-Smith card on September 17. What likely makes Saunders so ideal for Canelo is because he can’t punch, and he also tends to tire after six rounds. He’s like a bigger version of welterweight Amir Khan, who Canelo stopped in the 6th round last May. Khan tired after five rounds against Canelo and was knocked out in the 6th.

“Willie Monroe, Jr. is a southpaw as well so the game plan doesn’t change much,” said Rosado. “He’s in my way of me gaining a world title so I’m working harder than ever before to get that chance again. This is going to be a great fight for all the fans, I know I am coming in with everything I got and I know Willie Monroe, Jr. will do the same. I would like to thank Golden Boy Promotions, AT&T Stadium, and HBO for having me part of such a big event, I promise all boxing fans, this is the fight to watch on September 17.”

If Canelo beats Saunders in December to win his WBO middleweight title, you can bet that Golden Boy will match him against the Rosado-Monroe winner in May of 2017 in Cinco de Mayo. That’s a predictable fight. I’m not sure if Golden Boy will make the fight if Monroe Jr. beats Rosado though. I think Golden Boy prefers that Rosado win against Monroe Jr, because it would set up a Mexico vs. Puerto Rico type fight on Cinco de Mayo with Canelo facing Rosado in a fight that will likely be televised on HBO pay-per-view. What would be sad about the Canelo-Rosado fight is that it won’t even be competitive in my opinion. I don’t see Rosado as even being the 10th best fighter in the middleweight division. He’s just a fringe level contender in my view. In other words, I see Rosado as a bottom 15 guy in the middleweight division. For Rosado to be fighting Canelo for the WBO middleweight title or even just fighting him with no title on the line, it’s just not appealing to me.

I think Golden Boy will put the Canelo vs. Rosado fight on HBO PPV, and that just seems laughable to me, because Rosado’s ring record would be 3-4-1 in his last 8 fights. That’s just not very good for someone fighting in the main event on HBO pay-per-view.

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As for the Canelo vs. Smith fight, I don’t think it should be on HBO PPV. This is not an exciting fight. I doubt that many casual boxing fans in the U.S have ever heard of the 27-year-old Liam Smith before, let alone seen him fight. For a lot of fans, this will be the first time they’ve ever seen or heard of Smith. I think PPV fights should involve big stars or meaningful fights involving recognizable fighters to the U.S boxing public. I don’t think the Canelo vs. Smith fight or their co-feature bout meets that description.

Now if Canelo were facing someone like Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Jermall Charlo or someone from the light heavyweight division like Sergey Kovalev, then I would see it as a PPV worthy fight. I mention the light heavyweight division, because there are some people who believe that Canelo rehydrates to the mid-180s, which makes him a cruiserweight in size. Melting down from cruiserweight to light heavyweight would make Canelo a good option for Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, Artur Beterbiev, Joe Smith Jr, or Adonis Stevenson.