Gabriel Rosado has often been the underdog in his boxing career, but last night in San Antonio, he came in a solid if not crazy favorite against Shane Mosley Jr, only to find himself taking his 15th loss.
It wasn’t the outcome Rosado (26-15-1, 15 KO) or most expected. The 36-year-old veteran has never quite broken through as a top fighter, but he’s experienced and still game, and has done well in his career against opponents thought to be on the level of the 31-year-old Mosley.
Rosado, who shook his head when Mosley was announced as the winner, cleared up any confusion about what he was thinking in a Twitter post after the bout.
“Congrats to Mosley Jr. He fought a good fight. It wasn’t my night, I felt flat,” he wrote. “Thank you to all the fans for the love and support. God is good, I’m thankful and blessed.”
Congrats to Mosley Jr. He fought a good fight. It wasn’t my night I felt flat. Thank you to all the fans for the love and support. ❤️
God is good I’m thankful and blessed.— Gabriel Rosado (@KingGabRosado) April 10, 2022
Mosley (18-4, 10 KO) scored pretty clearly the best win of his career, fighting smart throughout, and showing he was capable of beating Rosado no matter what Philly’s “King” tried. Rosado started feeling things out, and Mosley got the better of him there. When Rosado tried to turn up the heat, it was the bigger, younger, and fresher Mosley scoring the better shots and doing the more obvious damage.
Two judges had the fight 97-93 and 98-92 for Mosley, which is consistent with what most saw, while a third (Angel Mendez Ramos) had it 95-95, which was highly questionable.
For Mosley, it’s a good win that gets him moving forward. I doubt many will see him as a legitimate contender at 168 now — Rosado wasn’t seen as one coming in — but it’s a great rebound from a loss to Jason Quigley last time out, and he looked comfortable and confident at the weight, coming up from 160.
For Rosado, it’s another setback, and a big blow to his dwindling hopes of winning a world title before he hangs up the gloves. Those who have watched him in his career know that Rosado could have been more carefully managed to a much shinier record, something like five or six losses instead of 15, but at some point he’s going to start wondering how much is really left in the game for him, at least as an active fighter. He’s a smart dude who has worked his ass off in his career, but if it hasn’t happened yet, how much longer will he want to keep pressing it?