Boxing Results: Gabe Rosado destroys Bektemir Melikuziev in 3rd round KO

By Boxing News - 06/19/2021 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Super middleweight contender Gabe Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) got up off the deck in the first to come back to knock out former amateur star Bektemir ‘The Bully’ Melikuziev (7-1, 6 KOs) by a third-round KO on Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

The time of the stoppage was at 1:21 of round three.

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Rosado timed the previously unbeaten Melikuziev in flattening him with a huge right hand to the head in the third round.  Given how dominant Bektemir was in the first two rounds, this was a knockout of the year.

The shot put the 25-year-old Melikuziev down face first on the canvas for the knockout. Although Uzbek Melikuziev made it back to his feet, the contest was stopped because he was too hurt to be allowed to continue.

Rosado looked like he was done for in the first round, as he was getting nailed repeatedly by the powerful Melikuziev, who looked stronger than Canelo Alvarez.

The body shots that Melikuziev was hitting Rosado with were devasting shots, and it was clear the fight wouldn’t go long unless Gabe turned things around.

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In the first round, Melikuziev dropped Rosado with a powerful body shot after cornering him against the ropes. Rosado, 35, wisely stayed down for the count of nine before finally getting back to his feet.

It’s a good thing that Rosado did that because the heavy-handed Melikuziev would have likely finished him off with another body shot.

After the fight, Rosado said he wants to fight Jaime Munguia next if he comes out victorious in the main event against Kamil Szeremeta.

Munguia’s promoters at Golden Boy might want to think twice about letting Rosado fight him because he’s got too much experience.

Golden Boy can’t be pleased seeing their young prospect Melikuziev get taken apart by Rosado tonight. Bek ‘The Bully’ has the potential to capture a world title someday, but he showed no respect with the way he was telegraphing his body shots.

Melikuziev needed to set up his shots rather than unloading with each punch, as he was utterly predictable in what he was throwing.

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Other results on the undercard:

  • Undefeated welterweight prospect Blair Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KOs) defeated 38-year-old Brad Solomon (29-4, 9 KOs) by a fifth round knockout. Cobbs unloaded on Solomon with shots in the fifth to get the knockout. The time of the stoppage was at 2:57 of round five.
  • In an unpopular decision, female flyweight Marlen Esparza (10-1, 1 KOs) defeated WBC champ Ibeth Zamora (32-7, 12 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The judge’s scores were 97-92, 95-94, 96-94.