By Ian S Palmer
Heavyweight Derric Rossy of Medford, New York will be battling it out with Carlos Negron of San Juan, Puerto Rico at the Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky this Saturday, June 24th. The 10-round bout can be seen live in North America on the CBS Sports Network. Rossy was scheduled to meet hard-hitting Luis Ortiz in Brooklyn, on April 22nd, but the fight fell through. Rossy’s last outing was in December when he stopped Richard Carmack in the second round while Negron also last fought in December when he stopped Cristian Galvez in the second round.
The 36-year-old Rossy has a mark of 31-12 with 15 Kos under his belt. He’s lost three of his past four contests and seven of the last 10, but he did manage to win his last outing. He doesn’t have much momentum entering Saturday’s bout, but does have plenty of experience. Rossy has faced some fine fighters in the past, but he usually falls short when he squares off against them. Some of the opponents include Kubrat Pulev, Eddie Chambers, Ray Mercer, Audley Harrison, Fres Oquendo, Travis Walker, Bermaine Stiverne and Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Rossy’s 12 losses have come against Trevor Bryan, Erkan Teper, Glazkov, Oquendo, Harrison, Pulev, Chambers (twice), and Alexander Dimitrenko, Maurice Harris, Joey Dawejko and Bermaine Stiverne. He was stopped by Harrison, Harris, Pulev, Dimitrenko, and once by Chambers so his chin definitely isn’t his strong point. Rossy stands 6-feet-3-inches tall and has a 76.5-inch reach. He’s fought 268 rounds since turning pro back in 2004 and has a current knockout ratio of 35 per cent.
The 29-year-old Negron has an impressive mark of 19-1 along with 15 Kos. His lone loss was a third-round stoppage at the hands of Epifanio Mendoza back in 2011. He has a three-inch height advantage on Rossy as he’s 6-feet-6-inches tall and also has close to a seven-inch reach advantage as his wingspan is 83 inches. Negron turned pro back in 2009 and has just 47 rounds under his belt since then. The main reason for this is due to his knockout power.
Negron has better-than-average power as his current knockout ratio stands at 75 per cent. He’s a big guy and has also fought in the cruiserweight division. His biggest win was against Andy Perez by way of a first-round TKO in September of last year. The knock against Negron has been his quality of opposition as he’s faced mostly Grade C boxers up to now. He’ll actually be stepping up in class when he meets Rossy on Saturday night. However, he has good amateur experience as he fought in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China as a light heavyweight and went 1-1.
Prediction…
All the advantages go to Negron here other than pro experience. He’s younger, taller, has the reach advantage, has more power and also has a decent chin. Rossy is a solid pro, but he’s not top-tier material, but neither is Negron. Still, with his decent speed, mobility and power I’ll go with Negron here.
