Golovkin vs Rosado to be fought at catchweight

Gennady Golovkin will drop a couple more pounds than usual for his WBA middleweight title defense against Gabriel Rosado on January 19, as the fight will be contested at a catchweight of 158 pounds, rather than the normal 160-pound limit.

Rosado (21-5, 13 KO) is coming up from junior middleweight for the fight, which is the biggest opportunity of his career and will be his HBO debut. The 26-year-old Philly battler won three fights on NBC Sports this year, most recently beating veteran Charles Whittaker on September 21. His decision to move up and face Golovkin raised a few eyebrows, especially considering the Whittaker win made him the mandatory challenger for Cornelius Bundrage's IBF belt at 154.

But with Golovkin (24-0, 21 KO) giving up a couple of pounds, maybe this fight has become a bit more interesting. As much as Rosado has become something of a fan favorite for the way he's earned everything in his career, he's considered to be a pretty huge underdog against Golovkin, a guy whose gym work has become nearly the stuff of legends already, and though he hasn't faced much top competition, he's seen as one of the more promising rising stars in the world. At 30, Golovkin will be hoping to make his way onto the true major stages in 2013.

Golovkin-Rosado is part of an HBO tripleheader from The Theater at Madison Square Garden, with Orlando Salido facing Mikey Garcia in the main event, and Rocky Martinez taking on Juan Carlos Burgos.

Do you think the catchweight will help Rosado any, or will it make no real difference?