Billy's Boxing Blog

By William Trillo
Photo: Marlene Marquez

This Saturday April 9 from The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on The Golden Boy card streamed on DAZN, Super Middleweight Gabriel Rosado (26-14-1, 15 KO’s) will face Shane Mosley Jr. (17-4, 10 KO’s). Riding on a wave of exciting performances Rosado is ready to prove he is still a viable contender. Recently Rosado has been in a Fight of the Year type fight versus Jaime Munguia as well as a KO of the Year performance against the then undefeated Bektemir Melikuziev. We had a chance to speak with Rosado about his upcoming fights as well as his plans for the future. Check out what Gabe had to say.

Pound4Pound: Hey, what’s going on Gabe? Thanks so much for taking my call today.

Gabriel Rosado: You’re welcome. How you doing? Good?

P4P: I’m great. I’m thrilled to be speaking with you. First of all, I just got to tell you that as far as my mental list of fighters go, I can tell you this…when Gabriel Rosado is fighting, I got to be in front of the TV. It’s guaranteed action! I know you’re gonna bring it and I don’t have to worry about sleeping through a fight.

GR: No doubt, man. Thanks

P4P: Yeah, you’re no ordinary fighter.

GR: I appreciate that.

P4P: So, when I got the initial press release, telling everybody that you are going to be fighting Shane Mosley Jr., well, I’m kind of a knee jerk reaction kind of guy. And I thought, okay, wait a minute. Shane’s got a great pedigree, no doubt. But really, his list of accomplishments is The Contender and I guess he looked okay in his last fight. Now I look at Gabe Rosado. You’ve literally got twice the fights under your belt and you have fought everybody from Danny Jacobs to Gennady Golovkin. And you know, that list goes on and on. Personally, I would say that Shane may have bitten off a little bit more than he can chew on this one. Would you agree with me on that?

GR: Yeah, well, you know, one thing’s for sure is that I’m not gonna take Shane lightly. I’ve had a great, great training camp. But I didn’t have a great training camp because I feel that he’s a threat. I had a great training camp because I want to make a statement. I feel like it’s important that I not only win this fight, but win it in a spectacular fashion. I want to make the statement that Gabriel Rosado definitely has more in the tank. And at 168 pounds he’s a problem and he’s dangerous. I’m chasing a world title in the division.

P4P: That was going to be my next question. Obviously, with the statement you’re looking for bigger and better things. And that would be that that belt.

GR: Absolutely. You know, that’s what keeps me in the game. People have their reasons to talk, they say, “Why is Gabe still fighting?” But look, when I’m putting on performances, like knocking out Bektimir and that Fight of the Year with Munguia. Well… there’s it is, I got a lot left in me, and like I said, the goal is a world title. The money’s good, but, you know, for me, it’s really about putting my name in the history books. And then with that, then comes more money. But that’s definitely what keeps me hungry and keeps me going.

P4P: Right, I think about that question, “Why is his Gabe still fighting?” My answer…All you got to do is turn on the TV and go check out Rosado’s recent fights. That man is going to give you great performances fight after fight. You know he is going to give everything he has! He made that a war with Munguia, there’s nothing to be ashamed of with that fight. So, there’s your answer.

GR: You know, you have you have certain fighters that will fight past their prime and look really bad, but for me, I feel healthy, I feel great. I’m blessed to think God to still be doing this. I am waking up in the mornings and really feeling great and feeling happy about what I’m doing. So, the passion, the hunger and the drive is all there. But most importantly, I’m healthy. I feel I’m doing it all for the right reasons.

P4P: I would never suggest that you look past a fighter or take a fighter for granted. So, forgive me for this next question, but… Did you pay attention to the last fight Bektemir had? I think the first thing he did after that body shot knockout was to call you out. Did you see that and what are your thoughts?

GR: Yes I saw it. You know, that’s a personal issue within him. He’s not in my radar anymore. I did what I had to do in that fight. Of course he’s gonna feel that way. I can ask for a rematch with the guys that I fell short to as well. But you know what? You have got to have like a short-term memory in this sport. And you got to keep moving. I can easily say I want to rematch from Munguia. But look, we did what we did. And one thing’s for sure, I’m not going back down to 160. So Munguia, he did his thing and now I’m going back up to 168. So, for Bektemir, and me winning the fight, that’s something he has to deal with. Because, like I said, there’s nothing in it for me. How can I top that knockout? It’s gonna be really hard to top that. So, I’m good.

P4P: I think that was the reaction on Media row that night. When Bektemir said he wanted a rematch with you everybody kinda looked at each other and shrugged. It was like like, why? We all saw it. We saw the outcome. What’s the purpose?

But listen, before we go, I just wanted to touch on your broadcasting career a little bit, if you don’t mind. You’re doing a great job. Are you planning on transitioning over to that once you feel that it’s time to hang up the gloves?

GR: Yes, absolutely. The commentating, it’s something that I enjoy doing now. And, you know, after boxing, once I’m done fighting if I can do it a lot more I would love to. I enjoy calling the fights. I like seeing new talent. I feel like I bring something different to commentating as far as giving the fans a better insight of the mental aspect of what’s going on in the ring. I can paint a better picture of what’s happening in there. It gives the fan at home a better insight of the action.

P4P: A fresh voice on the box is always nice when you are watching a fight and you’ve added a lot. Of course, I want to see you fight again so I don’t mind waiting , but I look forward to also seeing you behind the mic in the future.

GR: Thank you. I appreciate it.

P4P: You have a great day, and I’ll be in front of the TV, watching Saturday night.

GR: No doubt. Thank you, man. Have a good one.

P4P: Take it easy. Okay, thank you so much.

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