By: Hans Themistode

Former middleweight titlist Daniel Jacobs has always expressed a desire to win another world title in now his second weight class. Matchups against current champions such as Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant and David Benavidez are exactly what he intends on pursuing. But before he sets his eyes on any of those aforementioned champions, Jacobs must first get past fringe contender Gabriel Rosado this Friday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Although the New York native has said that he is fully focused on Rosado, the Philadelphia product isn’t buying it. Whether Jacobs admits it or not, Rosado can sense how dismissive he is as a threat.

Regardless of Jacobs using Rosado as more of a stepping stone as opposed to a legitimate challenger, the 34-year-old is simply fixated on giving Jacobs hell in just a few more days.

“My job is to give him a rude awakening,” said Rosado during a recent zoom interview. “I’m not going to fight him like a challenger, I’m in this to win it. I don’t want to just make it to the 12th round, I’m in it to win it. If I don’t get a knockout then I want to win it on the scorecards decisively. I want to give him a rude awakening and just let him know that you thought this was just a tune-up fight but you’re in a real fight now.”

With one glance at his record, it’s easy to dismiss Rosado’s chances come fight night. The 34-year-old has fought some of the very best in all of boxing, yet, he has seldom been rewarded for the risks he’s taken. Outside of his well known brawls against current IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin and former belt holder Peter Quillin, Rosado (25-12-1, 14 KOs) has also fallen short against relative unknowns such as Derek Ennis, Joshua Onyango and Chris Gray.

During a three year stretch which began in 2013, the 34-year-old Rosado failed to register a single win despite stepping into the ring five times during that span.

It’s his heavily skewed record along with his failures at the championship level that has led him to believe that Jacobs has let his guard down. But with the end of his career racing towards him, Rosado believes he’s ready to take full advantage of a more relaxed Jacobs.

“I think sometimes you get caught up feeling yourself too much. You don’t put in the work that you think you’re putting in and you think you’re going hard but you’re really not. That’s just how I read Dan right now. I think he’s in a situation where he’s feeling himself and he’s looking past me. I been there before so I understand that. At this point in my career, I can’t afford to make any errors.”

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