Battle-tested Philadelphian Gabriel Rosado says he will derail blue chip super-middleweight prospect Bektemir Melikuziev when they meet in a crossroads bout at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso next Saturday, broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.
Rosado (25-13-1, 14 KOs & 1 NC) has mixed it with the best but been written off a number of times in his 15-year career, but his debatable split decision loss to former middleweight king Daniel Jacobs last November showed he isn’t done yet.
A decorated amateur who has won Olympic silver plus World silver and bronze medals, Uzbek Melikuziev (7-0, 6 KOs) is regarded as one of the best emerging fighters in boxing, but Rosado says next weekend’s bout is a step too soon.
“I’m fighting a young bull on June 19. Really eager to see if this kid a champion but I promise your this, if a fight ever broke between us, I’d put his run on hold,” said Rosado.
“I like the kid but he definitely is not ready for me, he will hit a speed bump. It’ll be a learning process. He will learn from me, hopefully, and move on to better things but it’ll be a speed bump, trust me.
“Bektemir, he is a one-trick pony, punches with one hand. I’m getting back on my cocky shit. He will be taken to school really quick, just the way I did it with Daniel Jacobs. Bektemir, he is strong, [but] a one-trick pony. He has just one punch in his pocket and will be gassed out by the sixth.”
Main image: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom Boxing.