Gabriel Rosado will meet Joel Julio in a 10-round junior middleweight bout on Friday, June 1 in Bethlehem, Penn., with NBC Sports televising it as an added date to their deal with Main Events.
With just one completed show in the books, which had its share of problems going in and overcame them in the ring, and one March 24 date getting good press (Zab Judah vs Vernon Paris), it's pretty impressive that Main Events has secured an extra date. They were originally guaranteed four shows on the network this year, but it looks like we can probably looked forward to getting more than that along the way.
Rosado (19-5, 11 KO) dominated Jesus Soto Karass on the January 21 series premiere, looking like a totally superior fighter against the rugged veteran, and now takes another step in class against Julio (37-4, 31 KO), a former highly-touted prospect whose pro career has been a bit of a disappointment, but hasn't been a washout. He remains a credible fighter, and at 27, there is still some hope he'll deliver at a higher level.
Rosado, 26, is a better fighter than his record indicates, as we've mentioned before, because he's never been protected or coddled. He's had to earn that 19-5, and that 19-5 is better than most 24-0 marks.
But Julio, who was experimenting with a move back to 147 after an iffy stint at 154 before, can punch, isn't a bad boxer, and his losses have all come to good fighters -- Carlos Quintana, Sergiy Dzinziruk, James Kirkland, and Alfredo Angulo.
If Rosado is really ready to step to the next level, and add his name to the contender mix at junior middleweight, he'll join that list of fighters. If he's not, Julio is good enough to cut him down here and now.
Ronald Cruz (16-0, 12 KO) will also be on the card. Cruz, a Peltz fighter like Rosado, recently defeated Allen Conyers in Atlantic City.