Rosado and Arias fight to a split-draw
Both men came into this bout from year-long layoffs, but looking to put themselves back into the middleweight picture. Rosado returns after a knockout win over Glen Tapia in October 2017. Meanwhile, Arias returned after a one-sided loss to IBF champion Daniel Jacobs in November 2017.
Prior to the fight, Arias made it clear he would not run from his opponent. If “not running” meant pushing the action behind aggression instead of boxing and using the ring, this is exactly what he did in the first quarter of the fight.
The Recap
Rosado, known as an “in-the-pocket” warrior, did an excellent job of out-boxing his opponent from the outside. The amateur pedigree of the Milwaukee native did not matter as, he was relegated to stalking his opponent, only looking to land the over-hand right.
While Arias had success landing some nice hooks when Rosado stopped moving, the Philly native clearly shouldered he workload.
Rosado’s trainer Billy Briscoe, instructed him to show his opponent a different look by being the aggressor going into the second quarter. However, Arias did an excellent job of countering as his opponent stopped moving.
This prompted Rosado to continue to box since his opponent hadn’t figured out how to stop that strategy.
It wouldn’t be until the ninth round where Briscoe’s request would be fulfilled. Ironically, this would be the most dominant round for the Philly native. He repeatedly hurt the Milwaukee native with uppercuts on the inside, moving him on his back-foot.
Rosado would elect to be the aggressor for the remainder of the fight. This allowed Arias to land the counter-right hand numerous times, however, his opponent still out-worked him for the majority of the rounds. A cut right eye of the 28 year-old just made matter worse in a twelfth round he desperately needed to win.
Conclusion
Many fans felt Arias would be the boxer in this fight but he minimized his talents by applying ineffective aggression for the majority of the fight.
In the end, two judges had a score of 116-112 going both ways and the last judge scored the fight even making the decision a split-draw.
3kingsboxing.com scored the fight 116-112 for Gabriel Rosado!
By: EJ Williams
