By Ian S Palmer
Gabriel Rosado of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will be taking on Luis Arias of Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kansas this Saturday, November 12th. The 10-round middleweight bout can be seen in North America on DAZN. Rosado last fought in October of 2017 when he stopped Glen Tapia in the sixth round. Arias hasn’t fought since last year either when he dropped a wide 12-round unanimous decision to Daniel Jacobs in November.
The 32-year-old veteran Rosado carries a record of 24-11 along with 14 Kos. Rosado is just shy of 6-feet tall and has a 71.5-inch reach. He has quite a bit of experience as Rosado turned pro in 2006 and has 261 rounds under his belt since then. However, he’s fought most of his pro bouts at the lower weight level of junior middleweight. Rosado isn’t really a powerful puncher as he has a knockout ratio of just 39 per cent and even though he’s been stopped four times, he has a pretty solid chin.
Rosado has taken on the likes of world middleweight champions Peter Quillin and Gennady Golovkin in the past with Quillin stopping him in the 10th round on cuts and Golovkin halting him in seven. Rosado has also been beaten by Alfredo Angulo by second-round TKO, Derek Ennis by 10-round majority decision, Fernando Guerrero by eight-round unanimous decision, Joshua Onyango by eight-round unanimous decision, Chris Gray by six-round unanimous decision, Jermell Charlo by 10-round unanimous decision and David Lemieux by 10th-round stoppage.
He also dropped a split-decision against J’Leon Love, but that bout was changed to a no-contest after Love failed a drug test. Rosado’s lost six of his last nine bouts, but he’s taken on some pretty tough customers along the way and was competitive against just about all of them. Rosado’s also beaten some good boxers such as Sechew Powell, Jesus Soto-Karass, Saul Roman, and Kassim Ouma. Rosado is a tough customer, but doesn’t have much power and that’s why he’s usually fallen short when stepping up in class. He has a lot of energy and heart and that’s what makes him a fan-friendly boxer.
Arias is 28 years old and has boxed 102 rounds since turning pro in 2012. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with a record of 140-25 and was a national champion in the middleweight division. Arias gives up a little bit in height as he’s 5-foot-11, but has an unlisted reach. He’s not known as a power puncher as he has a current knockout ratio of 45 per cent. He does have a fine record though as he’ll climb into the ring with a mark of 18-1 along with 9 Kos with his only pro defeat coming against Jacobs. He possesses good boxing skills as well as a solid chin.
Arias’ toughest foe up to now was definitely Jacobs and other than that, he hasn’t faced any other top opposition. His biggest wins up to date have been against the likes of Scott Sigmon, Jorge Silva, Tony Brinson and Dionisio Miranda. His career highlight is a fourth-round TKO over Darryl Cunningham in August of 2016. Arias was confident of doing well against Jacobs and believed a win would vault him into a serious top-10 contender., but he lost by scores of 118-109, 119-108 and 120-07 while looking ineffective for the majority of the fight.
Prediction…
Arias has the better boxing skills, but Rosado has experience on his side as well as toughness. This is a bit of a tossup, but if Rosado’s at his best then I think he can do enough to earn a close victory.
