By Ian S Palmer
Veteran Gabriel Rosado of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania takes on Shane Mosley Jr of Ponoma, California in a 10-round super middleweight tilt this Saturday, April 9th. The fight from San Antonio, Texas can be seen live on DAZN in most nations on the undercard of the Ryan Garcia vs Emmanuel Tagoe bout. Rosado last fought in November when he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Jaime Munguia in a shot at the WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title. Mosley last boxed in May when he lost a 10-round majority decision to Jason Quigley for the vacant WBO NABO Middleweight Belt.
The 36-year-old Rosado carries a record of 26-14-1 with 15 Kos. He’s just shy of 6-feet tall and has a 71.5-inch. He has plenty of experience as he turned pro in 2006 and has 320 rounds under his belt since then. He’s not really a powerful puncher despite his spectacular one-punch KO over Bektemir Melikuziev last June as his current knockout ratio is just 35.7 per cent. And even though he’s been stopped four times, Rosado is known to possess 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 12-round split decision to Daniel Jacobs, a 12-round majority decision to Martin Murray, a 12-round unanimous decision to Willie Monroe Jr and a 10-round unanimous nod to Maciej Sulecki. He lost a 10-round split-decision to J’Leon Love in 2013 but the result was changed to a no-contest after Love failed a drug test while his lone draw was a 12-round affair with Luis Arias in 2018.
Rosado has lost his fair share of fights but has taken on some pretty tough customers along the way and was competitive against just about all of them. His biggest wins have been against Melikuziev, Glen Tapia, 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.
As for the 31-year-old Mosley Jr, he’s not on the same level as his famous father, but is still a solid pro in his own right with a record of 17-4 with 10 Kos. He’s 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 77-inch reach which gives him a 1.5-inch height advantage and a 5.5-inch edge in reach on Rosado. He’s boxed 102 rounds since making his pro debut in 2014 after reportedly going 37-10 as an amateur. Mosley isn’t really known as a heavy hitter either as he currently owns a knockout ratio of 47.6 per cent.
Mosley’s three other defeats came at the hands of Marchristopher Adkins by four-round split decision in his third pro fight; by eight-round split decision to David Toussaint in 2017 and a 10-round unanimous decision to Brandon Adams in 2018. as far as pro titles go, Mosley captured the vacant WBO NABO Super Middleweight Title in February, 2021 when he stopped Cristian Olivas after five rounds. His toughest tests to date have been Adams and Quigley and is sure to have his hands full with Rosado.
Prediction…
Rosado has tons of experience and always comes to fight but he isn’t the greatest defensive boxer. He’s fought mainly from 154 to 168 lbs as a pro while Mosley has campaigned at 160 and 168 lbs. This fight is a super middleweight clash with Mosley being the naturally bigger man. Mosley also has the better boxing skills of the two but Rosado can often be relentless in attacking. If this is a boxing match I favour Mosley but if Rosado can turn it into a brawl I’d go with him. I just have a feeling that Rosado’s style may be a little too much for Mosley this weekend.
