By: Hans Themistode
After spending countless years chasing his world title dreams, Gabriel Rosado believes he’s closer than ever before to checking it off his boxing bucket list.
At the tail end of 2020, Rosado was steadfast in his belief that he was given a raw deal. Just a few days after enjoying the Thanksgiving holidays, Rosado attempted to put his rivalry with Daniel Jacobs to bed. Although he was forced to settle for a split decision loss, the Philadelphia native views that defeat as a win due to the controversial nature of the scorecards.
In an effort to continue his climb up the championship ladder, Rosado scored a knockout of the year contender against the highly touted Bektemir Melikuziev on June 19th, 2021. In his next trip to the ring, Rosado waged a 12 round war against Jaime Munguia. Though he came up woefully short, losing a wide unanimous decision, Rosado is now aiming his sights on one of the middleweight division’s longest-reigning champions.
“Eddie Hearn, let’s make a firefight!” Said Rosado on his social media account. “Demetrius Andrade got the belt, and I got the fans!!!”
For Andrade, the recent call out from Rosado follows an unwanted trend. The current WBO 160 pound belt holder has long been hoping to secure more high-profile showdowns against the likes of WBC champion Jermall Charlo, IBF belt holder Gennadiy Golovkin or newly crowned undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
Despite begging and pleading with some of the bigger names in or around his weight class to take him on, Andrade has been forced to face opponents ranked lower on the totem pole. In his most recent action, Andrade made quick work of fringe contender Jason Quigley, stopping him in two rounds.
Although the 31-year-old has prided himself on defending his middleweight crown against all comers, promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed that Andrade could opt to move up in weight. The reason behind Andrade’s sudden decision stems from the WBO sanctioning body mandating a showdown between Andrade and Janibek Alimkhanuly.
While Hearn respects the undefeated Alimkhanuly and the overall skills he brings to the table, the long-time promoter admitted that he would much rather see Andrade in a more significant contest in 2022.