By Scott Gilfoid: #10 WBO Gabriel Rosado (23-9, 13 KOs) says he sees WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) as someone who is just trying to make money off his World Boxing Organization 160lb title rather than looking to fight the best guys. Saunders recently rejected a fight against Rosado for the undercard of the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith undercard for this Saturday.
Rosado doesn’t understand the move by Saunders by turning down a fight against him, because he could have earned a fight against Canelo if he had accepted the fight and won.
Rosado, 30, will be back inside the ring against #14 WBO former middleweight world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr. (20-2, 6 KOs) this Saturday night in the co-feature bout on HBO pay-per-view at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. If Rosado wins the fight against the 29-year-old Monroe, he’ll have a chance of fighting Canelo in December or possibly early next year.
“Billy Joe has no interest in defending the title, he just wants to capitalize on making money off it,” said Rosado to the Dailymail. “If he wanted to defend the title like a true champion, he would have come to the States like Calzaghe and Hatton and proved to the American people he is a star. He chooses to hold the title hostage and go for the money.”
Saunders, 27, will be fighting an opponent still to be determined on October 29 on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko II card at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. The fight card will be shown live on BoxNation. Saunders isn’t expected to fight a super talented fighter though. Saunders says he wants to fight IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in a unification match, but it’s difficult see that as something he really wants.
Some boxing fans think this is just Saunders name dropping Golovkin’s name to create news in the boxing world without him actually having to get inside the ring against Triple G to risk his hide. We’ll see if Saunders is serious about wanting the GGG fight. If the fight gets made, then you can say that Saunders was on the level about wanting the match.
Personally, I don’t see those two guys fighting each other ever in this lifetime unless Golovkin comes over to the UK to fight Saunders after he no longer possesses his WBO title. Once Saunders has been beaten by one or two guys and his career is imploding, then I think he’ll be more than happy for Golovkin to throw him a lifeline by giving him a nice little payday. Other than that, I don’t see Saunders wanting to get within 3,000 miles of Golovkin.
“That is what it comes down to. We plan on knocking out Monroe and then maybe we will fight Billy-Joe in the UK. I know there are a lot of opportunities that present itself,” said Rosado.
Do I see Saunders suddenly perking up and showing interest in fighting Rosado if he beat Monroe on Saturday? Nah, I don’t think so. If anything, I think Saunders will be even more determined not to fight Rosado if he gets past Monroe. Heck, even if it’s a close fight where Rosado barely beats Monroe, I don’t see Saunders showing interest in fighting him.
It’s too risky of a fight. If Saunders loses to Rosado, which I see happening, then that would ruin his chances for a match against Golovkin or Canelo. As such, Saunders will likely steer a wide course around the Rosado-Monroe winner and instead look to get the fight against Canelo. I think that’s priority No.1 for Saunders. If they can’t get Canelo, then priority No.2 will be Golovkin.
In the meantime, I expect Saunders to do a lot of name dropping with him mentioning Golovkin’s name frequently to gain attention from the boxing world. It’ll help create news about how brave Saunders is. But then we’ll see Saunders turn around and likely fight a bottom feeder in the WBO’s top 15 rankings rather than one of the top three contenders. The WBO’s ranking right now is a mixed bag. It’s a mess in my opinion. The unproven Max Bursak is currently ranked #5 by the WBO and Tommy Langford No.2. I don’t see either of those guys as having the talent to be ranked in the top 15 at all, period. I see those fighters as bottom 100 type fighters, not top five. Those are weird rankings from the way I see it.
Unfortunately, I think we’re going to see Saunders fighting either Bursak or Langford really soon. I think it’s a no-brainer, really. Saunders was already scheduled to fight Bursak last summer before suffering a hand injury that wiped out the fight. I With Saunders now on the Fury-Klitschko II card on October 29; I see his fight against Bursak being rescheduled. It’s a terrible fight, yes, but it’s a great one for Saunders, because there’s no way he can lose.
“What does this say about him? It shows he is not interested in his legacy or defending titles. He is just interested in making a check,” said Rosado about Saunders turning down a fight against him.