By: Sean Crose
Popular 26-16-1 veteran Gabriel Rosado laced up the gloves again Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in order to face the 11-1 Bektemir Melikuziev for the second time. The first time the two men met, Rosado took his man out. Now, close to two years later, on the pay per view undercard of the Gervonta Davis-Ryan Garcia superfight, the 37 year old Rosado was looking to impress once again. The match was scheduled for 10 at super middleweight.
The opening round was a slow affair, with each man essentially feeling the other one out. The second round was also slow, as Rosado seemed unable to successfully find his range. Round three ended up essentially being more of the same. Each fighter was so concerned with not screwing up that nothing was happening. By the fourth, Melikuziev’s left was starting to find a home. Still, the fight remained largely uneventful. The fifth offered more of the same, save for a Melikuziev’ left that briefly wobbled Rosado. The sixth, too, didn’t offer much in the way of excitement.
Melikuziev threw his left effectively in the seventh. The eighth made Rosado look old. At nearly forty years of age, the man simply may not have been able to pull the figurative trigger anymore. Whatever the reason, Rosado certainly wasn’t throwing much at all. Melikuziev was well in control in the ninth – but the fight certainly was boring. Melikuziev banged away pretty much at will in the tenth and final round. The judges ended up ruling in his favor, awarding Melikuziev with a unanimous decision victory.
