By Allan Fox: Gabriel Rosado is promising to knock the dentures out of Daniel Jacobs’ mouth tonight in their 12-round fight live on DAZN from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.

It’s unclear whether the 33-year-old Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOs) had all his teeth pulled and replaced with dentures, but his choppers do look different from what they were previously.

It’s hard to miss Jacobs’ teeth during his interviews in the build-up tonight’s fight. Jacobs is kind of young to be replacing all of his teeth if he did have them all pulled.

Rosado (25-12-1 14 KOs) has a history of being a bleeder, and it’s going to be hard for him to win tonight if Jacobs can cut him early around one or both eyes.

The former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Jacobs has been honest about his rationale for choosing the 34-year-old Rosado as his opponent.

Jacobs has been out of the ring since his win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr 11 months ago in December 2019, and he didn’t want to take on a champion at 168 after such a long time out of the ring.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn wanted Jacobs to take a tougher fight against WBA super-middleweight champion Callum Smith or John Ryder, but he wanted Rosado.

During an interview many months ago before the fight with Rosado was signed, you could see Hearn’s disappointment when Jacobs told him that he wanted to fight Gabe rather than Callum Smith or Ryder.

The downside of Jacobs’ decision to fight Rosado rather than a top super-middleweight is the lack of interest from boxing fans in this fight.

For a lot of fans, they’re just now finding out this week that Jacobs is fighting. That’s not for lack of promotion. It’s the fact that there’s no excitement about the Jacobs-Rosado match due to it being viewed as a mismatch.

Jacobs vowing to attack Rosado’s midsection

“I’ve been fit before but I’ve had a great camp, which obviously produces great shape,” said Jacobs after weighing in on Thursday. “I’m physically focused and mentally ready.

“Gabriel Rosado is in for one hell of a treat. Where’s the animation? I’m me; I’m comfortable, I’m happy. To me, this is one of the easiest opponents in recent times.

“I’ve fought kings of the division [and lost to Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin]. I’m going to teach you a lesson, boy. You see him, he doesn’t even look like he’s in shape. He got a wide body, I’m about to touch that body for real,” said Jacobs.

Daniel must have played mind games in talking about Rosado being out of shape, as he looks in superb shape. Rosado looked carved up during the weigh-in, and it’s clear that he trained hard for this fight.

Jacobs is trying to play mind games to unnerve Rosado before the fight, which he shouldn’t need to do. Rosado has lost half of his last six fights, so there’s no reason for Jacobs to be trying to gain an edge mentally by suggesting that he’s out of shape.

It would be risky for Jacobs to target Rosado’s body, as this would leave his head wide open to counter shots from the Philadelphia native. Rosado may be a bleeder and a high-level journeyman fighter, but he can still punch with the best of them.

Jacobs’ weakness has always been his chin during his career, and he’s been hurt many times in his fights. Dmitry Pirog knocked Jacobs cold in the fifth round in 2010.

Jacobs’ defeats against Gennadiy Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez, he fought scared, giving away most of the first six rounds before he started fighting back. If Jacobs does that against Rosado, he’ll fall behind and be forced to play catch up in the second half.

At Friday’s weigh-in, Jacobs came in at 167.8 lbs and looked well-trained and ready. Rosado weighed in at the limit at 168 lbs and was also seemingly in peak condition.

Other weights for tonight’s fight card on DAZN:

Daniyar Yeleussinov 146.6 vs. Julius Indongo 146.2
Nikita Ababiy 162.2 vs. Brandon Maddox 162
Mahammadrasul Majidov 232.6 vs. Sahret Delgado 291
Emmanuel Tagoe 134 vs. Mason Menard 134.8

Daniel says he’s going to “hurt” Gabe

“You’re going to know, boy, I’m telling you,” Jacobs continued with his bold talk. “You’re going to see come Friday night. Watch this.

“You’re going to have to see; I’m not going to make any predictions,” an agitated Jacobs said when asked what his fight with Rosado will look like.

“I’m a man, and I’m telling you what I’m going to do, and that’s to give my very best, and my very best produces a victory. How that victory will come, we shall see, but I’m going to hurt this man,” said Jacobs.

Rosado can be hurt, and it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Jacobs can put him on the canvas tonight. In Rosado’s 10 round decision loss to Maciej Sulecki last year, he was knocked down twice by him in that fight.

Sulecki was literally beating the stuffing out of Rosado through the first eight rounds of the fight. It was so one-sided that it was a surprise that Rosado’s corner didn’t pull him out of the match.

But in the ninth, Sulecki got careless and was clipped by a hard left hook from Rosado. From there, Rosado knocked Sulecki down twice and had him on the verge of a knockout as the round ended.

Jacobs is a better puncher than Sulecki, and he looks stronger at 168 than he did at 160. If Jacobs fights with more courage than what we’ve been seeing from him lately, he could stop Rosado.

But at the same time, Jacobs could get hurt if he fights too aggressively tonight. Rosado arguably punches harder than Dmitry Pirog, and we saw what he did to Jacobs in 2010.

Rosado to target Jacobs’ chin

“Do I look out of shape?” Rosado asked when told that Jacobs says he looks out of shape. “I’m going to touch that chin.

“I’m knocking those dentures out of your mouth, boy. I got him where I want him,” Rosado said in reacting a moment about Jacobs looking more animated than usual.

“I’m good, I’m poised, and I’m relaxed. I put in the work with my team that was solid. He’s trying to say that I’m out of shape How am I out of shape, baby?” Rosado asked while once again raising his shirt to show his slim waist.

“I’m confident, man, and as you see, he’s talking crazy. He’s out of character right now.

“So we’re going to work, we’re going to do what we do. He said he’s going to give you all a treat, and he’s right. I’m going to give you a win for Philly. Brooklyn, too, because Brooklyn loves me, too,” said Rosado.

The best chance that Rosado has in this fight is to target Jacobs’ fragile mandible early, and not let him get anything going on offense.

In Jacobs’ last fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr last December, he looked uncomfortable when Julio was attacking him in the first round. It was only after Chavez Jr gassed out after the fourth that Jacobs took advantage of the situation and hurt him with an uppercut in the fifth.

Rosado needs to press Jacobs, and not give him a chance to get his shots off if he wants to win. But what we’re likely to see is Jacobs’ cutting Rosado early with his shots, which will result in an early stoppage.