By Ian S Palmer
The WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title will be on the line this Saturday, Nov. 13th when unbeaten former WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Jaime Munguia of Mexico takes on veteran Gabriel Rosado of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 12-round bout from Anaheim, California can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Munguia last boxed in June when he stopped Kamil Szeremeta after six rounds. Rosado stopped Bektemir Melikuziev in the third round in June to capture the vacant WBO International Super Middleweight Title and also win the Continental Americas Super Middleweight belt.
The 25-year-old Munguia of Tijuana definitely likes to stay active as this will be his 38th fight since turning pro in July of 2013 when he was a teenager. He enters the contest with a perfect mark of 37-0 with 29 big Kos. He first stepped up in class against Sadam Ali when he stopped him in five rounds in May, 2018 for the WBO Jr. Middleweight Title and defended that crown against Liam Smith, Brandon Cook, Takeshi Inoue, Dennis Hogan and Patrick Allotey before moving up to middleweight.
Since then he’s stopped Gary O’Sullivan in the 11th round in 2019 and then halted Tureano Johnson after six to win the vacant WBO Inter Continental Middleweight Title. Most of those fights highlighted Munguia’s defensive shortcomings but that’s a part of what makes him so exciting. The other part of his fan-friendly style is the fact he has dynamite in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 81.1 per cent. He reportedly went 128-10 in the amateurs and has 149 rounds of pro experience under his belt.
Munguia entered the title fight against Ali three years ago as a hungry boxer who wanted to make a name for himself on the world stage and he certainly did that. However, he struggled against Dennis Hogan and Takeshi Inoue as he went the distance with both of them and took quite a few shots. He also had trouble making the 154 lb weight limit and this is his fourth fight in the 160 lb middleweight division. Munguia stands 6-feet tall with a reported 70.5-inch reach.
The 35-year-old veteran Rosado carries a record of 26-13-1 with 15 Kos. He’s just shy of 6-feet tall and has a 71.5-inch reach so has a minimal one-inch reach edge on Munguia. Rosado has plenty of experience as he turned pro in 2006 and has 307 rounds under his belt. He’s not really a powerful puncher despite his spectacular one-punch KO over Melikuziev in June as his current knockout ratio is 36.6 per cent and even though he’s been stopped four times, he possesses 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.
Prediction…
Rosado has tons of experience and always comes to fight but like Munguia, isn’t the greatest defensive boxer. He’s also 10 years older than Munguia. He’ll definitely give it his best shot this weekend and should have his share of good moments but I’m expecting Munguia to come out on top when this bout ends.
