Bektemir Melikuziev (12-1, 9 KOs) avenged the only loss of his career as he battered veteran Gabriel Rosado (26-17-1, 15 KOs) on his way to a unanimous decision victory. Melikuziev cruised on the judges’ cards, winning by the tally of 99-91 three times.
“In the first fight against Rosado, I underestimated my opponent,” said Melikuziev. “This time, we put the work in during camp. We went through everything. This time, the goal was to showcase my skills, box and punish him as much as possible too.”
In their first meeting in 2021, Rosado stopped the then unbeaten Melikuziev in his tracks with a sensational one-punch KO. In the rematch, Melikuziev was able to avoid a repeat misstep and controlled the bout throughout, out landing Rosado in every round.
“I tried, but I was a step behind,” said Rosado. “’Father Time’, eighteen years as a pro, but I was game. I walked to him, I boxed him, I tried everything but I was a step too slow. ” was a split-second behind. He’s fresh, he’s young and I’m happy for him. I knocked him out bad in the first fight and he made adjustments.”
Melikuziev appeared to have his opponent hurt in round five when a straight left wobbled Rosado and nearly sent him into the ropes. Rosado had more success in the second half of the fight, but took too much punishment on his way to attempting to close the distance.
The 27-year-old from Uzbekistan held a wide margin on power punches landed (129-31) and held Rosado to just a 17% connect rate. After the fight, Melikuziev relished in making up for his lone defeat, while Rosado stated his intentions on retiring after a long career.
“This was the fight that I wanted,” said Melikuziev. “This is the fight that I felt like I made a mistake in the first one, and I had this opportunity for revenge on such a big card. It’s a pleasure for me.”
“I don’t make any excuses,” said Rosado. “I was ready. Now it’s time to wrap it up and give my knowledge to younger fighters with management and training. I want to share my experience with them, and maybe do some more commentating.”
In the pay-per-view opener, exciting middleweight Elijah Garcia (15-0, 12 KOs) grinded out a unanimous decision victory over Kevin Salgado (15-2-1, 10 KOs) after 10 rounds of action. The 19-year-old Garcia won by scores of 95-94 and 97-92 twice.
“It feels great to get this win on a big stage,” said Garcia. “I feel like I’m getting better with each fight. I know I have a long way to go, but I like where I’m at. I’m hoping to get right back in the ring soon.”
“I felt like I won,” said a frustrated Salgado post-fight. “By a small margin, but I should have won.”
Mexico’s Salgado got off to a strong start in the first three rounds, breaking through Garcia’s defense and busting Garcia’s nose to take control of the early action. Late in round five, Garcia started to find spots for his power shots and was stronger defensively, holding Salgado below a 40% connect rate for each of the remaining rounds after Salgado hit that mark in each of the first three.
“I was standing a little too still trying to fight on the inside,” said Garcia. “Salgado is a tough opponent. He was real tough, real strong and I just had to move and box a little bit. Other than that, it was a good, hard 10 rounds. I give my opponent 100 percent props.”
In round six, Garcia connected on a powerful straight left hand that pushed Salgado back and appeared to potentially hurt him before he was saved by the bell. Salgado returned in round seven to target Garcia’s body, but was ultimately deducted a point by referee Robert Hoyle after multiple warnings earlier in the fight.
“I’m upset because I felt like this was a really good fight,” said Salgado. “The referee kept getting in my way. I got a point deducted from me but didn’t say anything when Garcia hit me in the back of the head. It felt like swimming against the current. Mexicans always come to fight against everyone and everything: The judges, the opponent, the refs, the home fans. None of that got in my way to keep me from moving forward.”
The punch stats reflected Salgado’s early lead as he held an 81-70 advantage in power punches landed through six rounds, with the final tally ending nearly even (139-138 for Salgado). Overall, Garcia out-landed Salgado in five of the last six rounds to clinch the victory and continue to build into his contender status at a young age.
“I just have to continue getting better in the gym every single day,” said Garcia. “That’s what it’s about. I learned a lot today. It was my first time going past six rounds and I got the full 10. Fights like this will get me closer to a world title.”
Prior to the telecast, action streaming live on the SHOWTIME SPORTS YouTube channel and SHOWTIME Boxing® Facebook page was topped by rising middleweight contender Fiodor Czerkaszyn (22-0, 14 KOs) dominating Elias Espadas (22-6, 15 KOs) on his way to a ninth-round TKO. Landing big power shots throughout the action, Czerkasyn wore Espadas down and eventually forced referee Mike Ortega to jump in and stop the fight 2:07 into the ninth-round.
The streaming presentation also saw sensational super welterweight prospect Vito Mielnicki Jr. (15-1, 10 KOs) score a vicious fourth-round knockout over Jose Charles (20-4-1, 12 KOs). After putting Charles on the canvas twice in round three, Mielnicki landed a perfect counter right early in round four that sent Charles crashing to the mat and prompted referee Robert Hoyle to wave off the action 33 seconds into the frame.