Zurdo vs Rosado prediction: Who wins the fight? Plus Diaz-Gesta, Miller-Browne picks

It’s not the biggest or best week of boxing, and ... uh, well, that’s about the score of things for this weekend.

But we do have some fights to predict, because what else are we doing? Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez will face Gabriel Rosado in the weekend’s biggest main event, and we’re also picking the JoJo Diaz vs Mercito Gesta fight on that undercard, and Jarrell Miller vs Lucas Browne in Dubai, who wins, a big baby or a big daddy?

UPDATE (March 17, 4:35 pm ET): Zurdo vs Rosado is now off. We’ll leave the text and stuff here. — Scott

Scott Christ (16-13)

I have a ton of respect for Gabe Rosado and for his career, and I think this is a guy we’ll see around boxing for a long time. I also think this is putrid, cynical matchmaking, to bring him up to 175 lbs to fight a guy like Zurdo Ramirez, a disgusting poaching of whatever’s left of Rosado’s “name value” instead of signing up someone like Adam Deines or Tom Dzemski, who also would have had no shot, but at least they are light heavyweights who haven’t had a fight within the last year where they couldn’t get out of the blocks against Shane Mosley Jr at 168. Rosado will do his honest best to neutralize the bigger, faster, stronger, frankly better man, but the size and Ramirez wanting to prove something after losing to Bivol will be too much. If the referee is on their game in this one, they should be ready with the hook to prevent this from getting brutal. Ramirez TKO-8

Wil Esco (21-8)

Everyone knows that boxing fans generally love the heart Gabe Rosado puts on display, but he’s still a 37-year-old fighter with 16 losses on his record, including three straight. Rosado is never scared, no doubt, but he just simply has way too many miles on him to compete at the top level, or even really the level below that at this point. I think Rosado shows up and tries to do his best but just gets overwhelmed by a much fresher Gilberto Ramirez. In fact, despite being pretty durable even in most of his losses, I think Ramirez ultimately forces the stoppage here after wearing Rosado down in the first half. Ramirez TKO-10

John Hansen (23-6)

I wish Rosado was presenting a Zurdo fight rather than carb-loading to take him on in the ring. I like Rosado too much to say anything beyond that. Ramirez TKO-4

Patrick Stumberg (21-8)

Fill in the blank for me: “Yeah, Rosado’s old, weathered, badly undersized, doesn’t throw as many punches, doesn’t hit nearly as hard, and doesn’t have any sort of technical advantage, but [___].”

What exactly is he supposed to do here? Durability isn’t among Zurdo’s shortcomings, so we’re not getting a Certified Bek Moment™. Rosado’s not going to out-box him, either, and Zurdo’s aggressive approach is straightforward enough that Rosado can’t rely on just throwing a wrench in his gears like he did against Jacobs. The only ambiguity is whether Rosado can go the full 12; just based on size and Ramirez’s penchant for body punching, I’m going to say no. Ramirez TKO-11

Quick Picks!

JoJo Diaz vs Mercito Gesta

• Scott: Diaz UD-12
• Wil: Diaz UD-12
• John: Diaz UD-12
• Patrick: Diaz UD-12

Jarrell Miller vs Lucas Browne

• Scott: Miller KO-1
• Wil: Miller TKO-7
• John: Miller KO-2
• Patrick: Miller TKO-3