Matchroom USA and DAZN host a card at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida this Friday night, with a former world champion at the head of affairs.
Brooklynite, Daniel Jacobs (36-3, KO30) moves up to super middleweight after a catchweight contest last time out, as he faces Philadelphian warhorse, Gabriel Rosado (25-12-1, KO14) over twelve rounds.
Jacobs is looking to establish himself at 168 pounds after hitting somewhat of a ceiling at middleweight against some elite fighters.
The 33-year-old ‘Miracle Man’ was on a fast track to the top after 20 straight wins, before suffering a huge shock loss to Dmitry Pirog when challenging for the vacant WBO title in June 2010, stopped in five after a heavy knockdown.
2011 saw Jacobs’ life threatened due to bone cancer, but he made a full recovery 19 months later, and resumed his career.
Becoming world champion in August 2014 by stopping Jarrod Fletcher in five to win the vacant WBA strap.
Four stoppage defences followed against quality operators in Caleb Truax (TKO12), Sergio Mora (TKO2 & TKO7) and Peter Quillin (TKO1) before Jacobs got the fight he had craved for some time against Gennady Golovkin in March 2017.
Jacobs was down in round four, but took ‘GGG’ to the wire in a points loss.
Two points wins started his comeback, and he then picked up the vacant IBF crown in a thriller with Sergiy Derevyanchenko in October 2018. That win led to a shot at Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May 2019, and again Jacobs ran the Mexican close in another close defeat on the cards.
Jacobs’ last contest was in December 2019, stopping Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, who quit on his stool at the end of five.
Jacobs now starts a campaign at super middle, and Gabe Rosado is a spirited campaigner that will give Jacobs a competitive nights’ work.
Rosado is a deceiving 4-7-1 in his last dozen fights, with his losses coming against quality opposition, failing three times in world title challenges in that time.
Gennady Golovkin stopped Rosado in seven punishing rounds in January 2013 in a challenge for the WBA and IBO crowns, and two fights later he was stopped in ten in a bid for the WBO belt against Peter Quillin.
There were two further straight losses against Jermell Charlo (UD10) and David Lemieux (TKO10) before impressive underdog points wins against Joshua Clottey and Jesus Gutierrez.
His renaissance was halted by another set of back to back defeats on the cards against Willie Monroe Junior, and a disputed one in Liverpool against Martin Murray in April 2017.
A win and a draw gave ‘King’ Rosado a shot at the vacant WBO belt in March 2019, and it was a fight of the year contender against Macej Sulecki. Rosado was down in rounds one and eight, but roared back to drop the Pole twice in the ninth before missing out on the scorecards.
Gabe returned in December 2019, winning over ten against Humberto Ochoa.
Prediction: Jacobs will be looking to target the best the division has to offer with a good win against Rosado, but the underdog will come to win as he always does.
After a first half of action, it should die down to allow Jacobs to dictate the pace, and he should pull away for a wide points win.
Daniyar Yeleussinov (9-0, KO5) is a real talent, and the Kazakh steps up in class against former unified super lightweight world champion Julius Indongo (23-2, KO12).
This one takes place at Welterweight, and Yeleussinov is catching the 37-year-old Namibian at the right time after heavy back to back defeats in 2017 and 2018.
Indongo failed in a bid to become undisputed ten stone champion when hammered in three by Terence Crawford, and in his very next fight, he was dropped four times and stopped in two by Regis Prograis.
The veteran returned in August 2018 with a second round win against Carltavius Johnson, but hasn’t competed since.
Prediction: Yeleussinov, if he can turn up the heat early, can have Indongo out of action within around four.
2012 Olympic Bronze Medallist, Mahammadrasul Majidov (2-0, KO2) makes his third professional appearance, and the Baku based Russian faces unbeaten Puerto Rican Sahret Delgado (8-0, KO7) over eight.
Majidov has stopped Ed Fountain and Tom Little so far, while Delgado hasn’t yet faced anyone near the calibre of his opponent this weekend in eight wins.
Prediction: Majidov is a class act, and should be able to make it a hat trick of early wins here with a win inside the first three sessions.
At lightweight, Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe (31-1, KO15) clashes with Louisiana’s Mason Menard (36-4, KO25) who has been stopped each time he has been defeated, but has lost to some quality opposition in Raymundo Beltran (KO7), Devin Haney (RTD9) and Teofimo Lopez (KO1).
Tagoe has only been defeated once, on debut, and can score a win here via late stoppage.
Completing the card a six-rounder at middleweight sees Nikita Ababiy (9-0, KO6) meet Brandon Maddox (7-3-1, KO5). Both men come to fight, but Ababiy can notch a seventh early win around halfway.
