By John Tornay: Gabe Rosado says “father time” could catch up to 40-year-old Gennadiy Golovkin this Saturday night when he takes on Ryota Murata in their 160lb unification fight in Saitama, Japan.
Rosado, who has shared the ring with Golovkin (41-1-1, 36 KOs) nine years ago in 2013, believes he’ll defeat WBA middleweight champion Murata (16-2, 13 KOs) if he’s the GGG of old.
If Golovkin is still firing on all eight cylinders at this stage of his career, he’ll be too much for the 36-year-old Murata. Golovkin and Murata are headlining live on DAZN at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Murata lives in Tokyo, which is 23 miles away from Saitama, and he’ll be enjoying a massive advantage in crowd support over Golovkin on Saturday night.
However, Golovkin has fought worldwide during his long amateur career in Kazahstan, and he’s not going to be daunted by the sizeable pro-Murata crowd. The only way Murata will win this fight against GGG is to get in the trenches with him and slug it out from start to finish.
Golovkin’s 16 months he’s been out of the ring could be a potential problem, and how drained he looked at Friday’s weigh-in.
Golovkin looked tired with dark circles under both eyes while facing off with the much healthier-appearing Murata.
If Golovkin feels the effects of his efforts to make the 160-lb weight for the fight, Murata could potentially capitalize on that on Saturday night.
Arigato ありがとう
Thank you! Рахмет! Спасибо! pic.twitter.com/Eia83MucpG— Gennadiy Golovkin (@GGGBoxing) April 8, 2022
Rosado gives Canelo edge against Bivol
“I feel Canelo has the upper hand. He’s strong, he has speed, and he’s on a roll right now,” said Gabe Rosado to Fight Hub TV in discussing what Canelo Alvarez brings to the table against Dmitry Bivol on May 7th.
“Right now, he’s on the top of his game. He’s the pound-for-pound King,” continued Rosado. “So, everybody wants a shot at Canelo, but [Dmitry] Bivol is a solid talent. I think Canelo has the edge in that fight.”
Canelo (57-1-2, 39 KOs) will be giving away a lot of natural size against the WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) for their fight on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Alvarez says he’s on a vegan diet, a move that he’s likely taking so that he’s not slowed down by the extra weight he’ll be putting on for the fight.
It’s unclear if Canelo will be adding much weight for the contest with Bivol, considering that he knows that he’ll need stamina & foot speed to have a shot at winning.
If Canelo is heavy & sluggish like he was when he challenged WBO 175-lb champion Sergey Kovalev in 2019, Bivol will take advantage of that and could beat him.
Golovkin’s age could play a factor
“GGG has to worry about [Ryota] Murata first,” said Rosado when asked about his thoughts on Gennadiy Golovkin possibly facing Canelo Alvarez on September 17th in their trilogy bout.
“GGG is 40-years-old; he ain’t fought in a while. He’s going to Japan; it’s a different climate, a different atmosphere, so we don’t know what we’re going to see,” said Rosado.
“If it’s the GGG of old, I’ve got him winning, but Father time catches up to us, so we’ll see how it plays out,” said Rosado.
Gabe faces Mosley Jr this Saturday
“I’m just excited. It’s an opportunity to go back to my original weight class and defend my title, win big, and go on to bigger and better things in the 68 and 75 division,” Rosado said about his 10 round fight this Saturday night against Shane Mosley Jr.
“Yeah, but it’s business. This is what we do,” said Rosado about his fight with the 31-year-old son of the legend Shane Mosley this Saturday. “We’re going to get it on, give the fans a show, and I’m going to get the knockout, the knockout win,” said Rosado.
Rosado (26-4-1, 15 KOs) is fighting this Saturday, April 9th, in a 10 round bout against 31-year-old Shane Mosley Jr (17-4, 10 KOs) on the Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe card.
The event will be shown live on DAZN at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The 36-year-old Rosado is coming off a one-sided 12 round decision loss to Jaime Munguia last November in the main event on DAZN.
Rosado’s loss was his third in his last five fights since 2019, and he’s beginning to get a reputation for being a guy who fails when he’s stepped up against a better class of opposition.
Mosley Jr., the son of boxing legend Shane Mosley, is a winnable fight for Rosado, one that he should come out victorious if he has anything left in the tank at 36.
Mosley Jr. is arguably a journeyman-level fighter coming off a 10 round majority decision loss to Jason Quigley last May. Rosado should be too much of a step up for Mosley Jr in this fight, making it an easy win.
