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Gabriel Rosado is calling for a fight with former 154-pound titlist and current middleweight contender Jaime Munguia, saying, “This one got classic written all over it,” and tagging Golden Boy executives with the idea:
The 35-year-old Rosado (25-13-1, 14 KO) obviously doesn’t have the prettiest record, but everyone knows he can still be a handful. He is coming off of a controversial decision loss to Daniel Jacobs at super middleweight last November, a fight he easily could have won — but was also deadly boring, if we’re all being honest. The 24-year-old Munguia (36-0, 29 KO) last fought in October, stopping Tureano Johnson on a nasty lip cut in the sixth round of what was shaping up to be a really great scrap.
Munguia has recently been connected to a possible fight with IBF middleweight titleholder Gennadiy Golovkin, which is obviously a much bigger opportunity than Rosado would be. But if Munguia does not fight Golovkin, Golden Boy reportedly have possible plans for him to fight Kanat Islam in April. Islam (28-0, 22 KO) doesn’t have quite as much name value as Rosado, who isn’t exactly a superstar but is well-known, but he’s unbeaten and potentially easier to market, too.
If Golovkin-Munguia doesn’t happen and Islam fell through for whatever reason, Rosado certainly wouldn’t be the worst opponent for Munguia, who is still young and trying to max his potential. Rosado is a crafty, smart veteran fighter, and while the Jacobs fight was an utter chore to sit through, that’s not standard for Rosado’s fights, either. Munguia fights a lot harder than Jacobs, and I could see this one turning into a real fight.