By Ian Aldous: On April 22nd, two-time world title challenger Gabriel Rosado (23-10), travels to the Echo Arena in Liverpool to battle four-time world title challenger, Martin Murray (34-4-1). The two middleweights know how much is on the line and it could be the last chance for either man to get a final shot at a world championship. This week, the Philadelphian native spoke with me over the phone about the April 22nd fight and his career so far.
IA: How did you get this opportunity to fight Martin Murray on April 22nd which will be your first fight outside the U.S?
GR: I was always in contact with Tony Bellew about a possible fight in the UK. Tony pretty much told me he would get back to me after the holidays, and he’s a man of his word as he got back to me and put me in contact with Eddie (Hearn). Eddie thought about making the Martin Murray fight and that’s how it all came about.
IA: What’s your current promotional status? You’re not with Golden Boy anymore?
GR: No, my last fight with Golden Boy was the Willie Monroe Jr. fight.
IA: How much have you seen of Martin Murray? He’s challenged for world titles four times and been agonisingly close with tight decisions against Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm. He’s back at 160lbs for this fight. What do you know about him and what have you seen of him?
GR: I remember seeing Martin back when he fought Martinez and he’s a solid guy, he’s a solid fighter with a lot of heart. I respect him as a fighter. I definitely think I’m a better fighter skill-wise but he’s a respectable fighter. The Martinez fight was a fight where many people thought he won the fight. Pretty much we’re in a situation now in our careers where we’re on the same page, it’s a must-win situation. So, this is a fight where he’s going to give it all he’s got and so am I, because we’re not doing this strictly for the money, it’s about a last shot at the world title. He feels that he’s got one more in him and so do I. This is about me getting to that world title again, so with that on the line I think you’re going to get an action-packed fight.
IA: Sticking with British middleweights, a fight with Billy Joe Saunders was talked about last year that failed to materialise, what was the deal with that in the end?
GR: It’s like I said, Billy’s holding the belt hostage (laughs). The fight was a done-deal. I signed the contract and we were supposed to fight and I was in training camp getting ready for him and I think it was probably about a month into the camp when they said Billy Joe’s not taking the fight. I was disappointed, I was very motivated to take the fight but it didn’t play out and it is what it is. The way I see it now is, I think it’s a perfect opportunity to go to the UK and beat Martin Murray and then hopefully that gets me a shot at Billy Joe.
IA: The night you fought Peter Quillin for the WBO 160lbs title in 2014 was probably your best in a pro ring. Do you feel you’d have won had the fight gone the distance? Scorecards and punchstats were level, I believe, when it was stopped in the tenth round due to the cut on your eye.
GR: Absolutely. The commentators which were Paulie Malignaggi and Al Bernstein, they had me up on the scorecard. It was a fight where it was going the way I expected it to, Kid Chocolate would start off strong but I knew that I would eventually break him down and I thought that I would get a late knockout. At the time that they stopped the fight, I actually had him on his heels, I actually had him hurt a couple of times and I really thought I was going to get the knockout. I just felt like it was a shitty stoppage but it’s history, it is what it is. Right now is a great opportunity to go to the UK which is really buzzing right now, the UK is doing great and they’ve got world champions, so I think the UK is the place to be right now. It’s always been a dream of mine, when I talked to Tony, I told Tony I really want to get a fight in the UK if he can make it happen and here’s the opportunity.
IA: I heard you sold $20,000 of tickets to family and friends for the night you fought Quillin!
GR: The fight was literally forty minutes from my hometown, Philadelphia. So, the place was packed and I had a big fanbase and it was a great fight, but we came up short unfortunately with the shitty decision, but it’s boxing and it’s not the first time I got a horrible decision. I think right now’s my time and I think Martin has a lot more miles on the tank right now, so I think I’m the fresher fighter out of the two. I’m back with my trainer Billy Briscoe, the man who got me ranked No.1 in the world at 154lbs and pretty much taught me everything I know. It’s refreshing being back with my first trainer and he’s not just a trainer, he’s a teacher. He’s always teaching me things and he’s very old school.
IA: You coming over here fighting Martin Murray in his hometown shows you’re a guy who’ll fight anyone at any time. You’ve fought a who’s who at middleweight. Do you see yourself as one of those fighters who’ll fight anyone because there are not enough of those guys around?
GR: Yeah, I proved that. I think if you look at my track record, the guys I’ve beat were top guys and the guys I’ve lost to were top guys. I turned pro at nineteen, I started boxing at eighteen and I only had about eleven fights as an amateur. My first ten-round fight was against former world champion, Kassim Ouma and I ended up beating him. I’m definitely the guy that fights anyone. All that hard work is definitely going to pay off now because now it’s about experience. Right now the way I train is smarter, not harder and I’m always going to be in shape. It’s about being experienced and knowing what to do in hostile situations and things like that.
IA: In 2014/2015 you took a foray into BKB boxing and became middleweight champion. How did you find that experience, fighting in a pit for seven, two-minute rounds?
GR: (laughs) It was interesting. I don’t know if you saw the Vera fight but it was a good performance. It was funny because when it was brought to my attention, I thought it was crazy and I thought it was insane! But, Bryan Vera just came off a good fight against Chavez Jr. where many people thought he won. So, I remember thinking to myself this is different but it’s a respectable fighter and he just came off a good performance. They were paying good and it was pay-per-view so I thought I’m going to take a crack at this. I remember stepping into the pit for the first time and thinking ‘this is fucking crazy’ (laughs). But once the bell rung, the fighter instinct kicked in and I knocked out Bryan Vera and that was something Chavez Jr. couldn’t do in two fights. Then I defended my title against Curtis Stevens, I fought some tough guys! Back-to-back I’ve fought the best like GGG, then Charlo, then Kid Chocolate, J’Leon Love. It was just back-to-back-to-back tough fights. Whenever there was a so-called ‘tune-up fight’ it would be a champion like (Joshua) Clottey (laughs). That’s not really a tune-up fight! Obviously Joshua Clottey is a smaller guy but he was still a champion, still has experience and no-one looks good against him, he’s fought bigger men like Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto.
IA: I think the UK fans will warm to you and your style on April 22nd.
GR: The twitter buzz was ridiculous when I announced the fight on my twitter. I get to see the impressions of how many people see the tweet and I think on the first day, it was about 100,000. It was buzzing, so I’m excited about it. He’s going to have the crowd behind him and it’s going to be nuts. But my last fight was in front of almost 60,000 people, so I know what it is to be in front of a big crowd, I’m ready for it.
Martin Murray vs. Gabriel Rosado will be broadcast live on Sky Sports on Saturday April 22nd. Tickets are available from matchroomboxing.com
You can follow Gabriel Rosado on twitter and instagram: @kinggabrosado