Gabriel Rosado (24-11, 14 KOs) did the job on the badly over-matched former high level prospect Glen Tapia (23-5, 15 KOs) last Thursday night in stopping him in the 6th round, and now he wants bigger game in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Jacobs or David Lemieux for his next fight.
It’s highly unlikely the 31-year-old Rosado will get the likes of Canelo, Jacobs or even Lemieux. Those guys have bigger fish to fry rather than slowing their careers down fighting Rosado, who has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights. Tapia is in even worst shape career-wise, as he’s been beaten 4 times in a row. It might be time for Tapia to pull the plug on his career and move in another direction.
Rosado vs. Tapia took place at the Park Theater at Monte Carlo in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was a card promoted by Golden Boy Boxing.
It was target practice all night long for Rosado, who dropped the 27-year-old Tapia in round 6, and stopped him with a blizzard of shots moments later. Referee Robert Byrd had little choice but to step in and stop the fight at seeing the condition Tapia was in. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:15 of round 6. It’s too bad Rosado doesn’t look like this all the time, because he’d be the top fighter at 160 if he always fought like this. Nowadays, Rosado only shines when he’s fighting guys like Tapia, Joshua Clottey and Andres Gutierrez. Those are the 3 performances from Rosado that stand out in the last 2 years of his career.
“It was very important to get the win,” said Rosado. ”It was important to make a statement, to be impressive, to put myself back into the mix. I want Canelo Alvarez, Danny Jacobs, or a rematch with David Lemieux. I want to prove that I still have something.”
Rosado was stopped by Lemieux in the 10th round on December 6, 2014. Lemieux looks like he’s gotten better since then. I can’t say the same for Roado. I don’t know if a fight between Rosado and Lemieux would be a good idea, given the way the previous fight played out between them.
Tapia was not a credible opponent for Rosado for him to show whether he’s got the goods to mix it up with the best at middleweight. Tapia is more of a journeyman level fighter due to his poor defensive skills, slow hand speed and chin problems. Tapia’s punching power is good, but he’s too easy to hit and his hands are very slow. Rosado has failed in the past a number of times when he’s tried stepping it up against Gennady Golovkin, David Lemieux, Willie Monroe Jr., Jermell Charlo, Peter Quillin, Derek Ennis and Alfredo Angulo. I wouldn’t call Ennis, Angulo and Monroe Jr. as real step up opponents, but never the less, Rosado still lost to them all. That tells you a little bit about Rosado’s limitations as a fighter.
I don’t think it would end too well for Rosado if he got thrown into the ring with Canelo, Jacobs or Lemieux. Those guys are like sharks, and they would be all over Rosado from the opening bell. Of course, there’s always a chance that Rosado has improved his game from his last 2 performances against Willie Monroe Jr. and Martin Murray. Those are both fights that Rosado lost. I’d like to see Rosado tested against one of the top middleweight contenders like Tureano Johnson, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Jermall Charlo, Luis Arias or Ryota Murata. If Rosado could beat at least 2 of those fighters, then you could make an argument that he rates a fight against Canelo, Jacobs or Lemieux.
Golden Boy Promotions put Rosado in position to earn a fight against Canelo last year when they matched him against Monroe Jr. on the undercard of Canelo’s fight against Liam Smith on September 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Rosado lost that fight by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112. We just saw Monroe Jr. lose a lackluster 12 round decision to WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders last month. Monroe looked terrible in that fight. It’s hard to believe that Rosado lost as badly as he did against Monroe Jr. If he had won that fight, he very likely would have gotten a nice payday match against Canelo. Instead, Rosado lost to Monroe and then got beaten by Murray in his last fight on April 22 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
Golden Boy can get Rosado the fights he needs to show whether he can make the leap to the level of Canelo, Jacobs and Lemieux, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to pass the smaller tests. Some fighters are able to make huge improvements after their 30th birthday. I don’t know if that’s going to be the case with Rosado. He looked both good and bad at times last Thursday night against Tapia. During the times that Tapia was on the attack, Rosado seemed as vulnerable as he always has. Like in previous fights that he’s lost, Rosado backed up against the ropes and took big shots from Tapia. We didn’t see much in the way of boxing skills from Rosado. It was mostly just him fighting with his left arm down by his side, throwing bombs and taking hard head shots. Rosado’s trainer needs to wean him from keeping his left hand down by his waist, because he gets hit far too often for his own good.
Rosado didn’t take too much punishment from Tapia last night. Perhaps Golden Boy can put together a fight for Rosado in December for him to prove himself so that he can lure a top guy like Jacobs or Lemieux to fight him. Someone like Jermall Charlo or Derevyanchenko would be perfect for Rosado. If he could beat one of those guys, then you could make an argument that he rates a fight with Canelo, Jacobs or Lemieux. Rosado would need to be a lot better on defense if wants to beat Charlo or Derevyanchenko.
