IBF and WBA Super 154lbs champion Jeison Rosario is ready to spring another upset when he meets rival WBC title-holder Jermell Charlo at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, on September 26.
Dominican Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) stunned Julian Williams, widely regarded as the No.1 in the division, in five rounds in January in a huge surprise yet is currently a 3-1 underdog with BetFredfor his unification with Houston’s Charlo.
Rosario says he has had a great camp in Miami with trainer Luis ‘Chiro’ Pérez and can’t wait to prove his status on the huge Showtime Pay-Per-View card that also features Charlo’s twin brother Jermall defending his WBC middleweight crown against mandatory contender Sergiy Derevyanchenko. Yet the uber-confident Jermell is maintaining he is a class above the physical and heavy-handed Rosario.
“I’m in great condition, I feel super good. I am motivated, determined, very hungry and, really, very eager to see my opponent’s face in the ring,” Rosario told journalist George Ebro.
Photo: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions.
“Well, on the 26th we’ll know if I’m not really at his level. I say I’m at the level of him and at anyone’s level. I get ready. Whatever he says doesn’t have any effect on me.
“[The Charlo brothers] are two warriors, two fighters. Everyone who gets to a level is because they really have something. They have their talent and have worked for this. I’m not the one to downplay them. They deserve what they’ve got. If they’re where they are, it’s because they’ve earned it.
“The first thing that left me [after his last defeat to Nathan Gallimore in April 2017] was the ego. Humility came and faith in God. When I lost, I told myself I had to trust God more and trust myself less. I trusted myself so much that I forgot everything around me. I didn’t care about anything.
“I started working really hard. I started adapting my body to a new cycle and working with ‘Chiro’, my coach. I’ve been with him for over a year now and we’re very pleased with what we want to achieve.”
Main image: Rosario shocks Williams in January. Photo: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions.