By Allan Fox: Gabe Rosado is looking to keep the momentum going with his career by taking on Jaime Munguia, Gennadiy Golovkin, or Jermall Charlo next. He’d like to fight one of those guys next or Canelo Alvarez if possible.
Of those guys, the undefeated former WBOI 154-lb champion Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) is expected to be Rosado’s next opponent. Rosado and Munguia shared the same card last month on June 19th.
The 35-year-old Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) has turned in back-to-back impressive performances against Bektemir Melikuziev and Daniel Jacobs.
Although Rosado lost to Jacobs by a 12 round split decision, it was a highly controversial loss. Rosado fought well enough to win that fight in the eyes of many boxing fans.
In Rosado’s last fight, he defeated the previously unbeaten ‘Bully Bektemir by a third-round knockout on June 19th.
In the first round, Rosado had to climb off the deck to come back to defeat Bektemir by a highlight real third-round knockout.
That fight was arguably the best performance of Rosado’s career, as he looked like he was on his to losing when he suddenly stopped Bektemir with a beautiful right hand to the head in the third.
Rosado targeting Munguia
“[Daniel] Jacobs isn’t even on my radar. I think the fight was so one-sided. I boxed him, and right now, you don’t even hear about Jacobs,” said Gabe Rosado to ESNEWS. “He’s not even relevant.
“I don’t think anybody cares about fighting Jacobs. I don’t think he’s got any value in fighting Jacobs. I think if there were a rematch, it would be easy.
“I’d knock him out in a rematch, no doubt about it. My thing is at middleweight, I’m interested in [Jaime] Munguia, [Jermall] Charlo, or Golovkin.
“In the super middleweight division, I’m open for anybody. Obviously, I carry the weight better at super middle, but I would love to run that back with GGG; I’d love to run it with Charlo or Munguia.
“He’s [Munguia] fought some solid guys,” said Rosado. “I definitely have the experience factor on him, but he’s got 40 fights.
“He’s not a rookie; he’s a former world champion. On top of that, he’s got Erik Morales in his corner.
“He’s got a Hall of Fame Mexican champion giving him advice, and that goes a long way because I had Benard Hopkins with me my whole career.
“So I know how important that is. I’m not taking Munguia lightly at all. I think compared to the last guy [Bektemir Melikuziev], I think Munguia is a lot more experienced,” said Rosado.
Gennadiy Golovkin defeated Rosado by a seventh round knockout eight years ago in 2013 in a mostly one-sided contest.
Golovkin likely won’t entertain the fight with Rosado because the Kazakstan fighter is planning on fighting Ryota Murata this December.
GGG is trying to keep winning long enough to get a third fight with Canelo. Rosado might be too much of a live dog for the 39-year-old Golovkin to fight him again.
WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo is a possibility for Rosado, but he’ll have to beat Munguia first before he’s given a possible title shot.
Daniel Jacobs has done zero with his career since the loss to Canelo Alvarez, so it’s understandable why Rosado doesn’t want to bother fighting him again. Rosado already proved that he’s a better fighter than Jacobs.
Munguia is the much more meaningful fight for Rosado, especially with his high ranking at 160. With a victory over Munguia, Rosado can potentially take his #1 ranking with the World Boxing Council at middleweight to potentially get a title shot.
Gabe refused to take a loss against Bektemir
“That mother f**** [‘Bully Boy’ Bektemir] would have knocked anybody out that night,” said Rosado about his impressive victory over Bully Boy Mektremir.
“I mentally prepared myself for that fight. I knew he was going to be strong, and I knew that left hook to the body was going to be vicious.
“That’s why I took that knee. I calculated it. I wasn’t going to jeopardizing taking an L and sucking it up at the moment he caught me with a good shot.
“It the first round, so I wasn’t even warm. When I was trying to time him [Bektemir], he caught me with a great shot right on the liver. I was like, ‘Ah, s***.’
“I knew the round was going to be over, so I thought, ‘Let me take this knee and go back to my corner and regroup.
“This is a 12-round fight; we’re going to be alright.’ As I said, I think he would have stopped anybody that night. It was just a matter of me not taking no for an answer. I wasn’t going home with an L,” said Rosado.
In the first round, things looked awfully bleak for Rosado when he was dropped by Bektemir hard with a body shot late. Rosado was getting pummeled by the bigger, strong, younger Bektemir.
Rosado began turning things around in the second round in which nailed Bektemir with some perfectly timed shots that caused him to back off.
Canelo a fight Rosado wants
“I would love to fight Canelo,” said Rosado. “Canelo is one of those guys that I admire because he’s a student of the game. Canelo has definitely improved as a fighter, and a lot of people have noticed that I’ve improved as well,” said Rosado.
Rosado gets a fight against Canelo if he fights at 168 and beats some of the big names like David Benavidez.
If Rosado stays at 160, he could get a fight against Canelo if he defeats WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. However, getting a fight against Charlo won’t be easy.
Realistically, Canelo won’t entertain the idea of fighting Rosado at this point in his career. Rosado has too many defeats on his resume for a fighter like Canelo to take him seriously.
Five years ago, in 2016, Rosado was matched against Willie Monroe Jr in a fight that Canelo was supposed to fight the winner.
It was believed at the time that Rosado would win, but shockingly, Monroe won. Instead of Canelo fighting Rosado, he fought Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.