Gabe Rosado returns to the ring against former BKFC champ, and ponders a bare knuckle debut of his own.
After more than a year and a half out of the ring, Gabe Rosado is on the comeback trail, and it’s a path that will travel at least somewhat through the world of bare knuckle.
Rosado, who was last in action in April of last year dropping a ten-round decision to Bektemir Melekuziev (whom he previously knocked out in devastating fashion), will return to the squared circle on Tuesday night in Miami against former BKFC titleholder Luis Palomino.
Rosado-Palomino won’t be a bare knuckle bout however. Rather, it will be contested over six, two-minute rounds with the fighters wearing 14-ounce gloves, a format very similar to the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul bout later on this week in Dallas.
The event, titled Magic City Fight Night, will take place at E11even nightclub in Miami, Florida, and will air live on pay-per-view for a very reasonable $9.99.
“Mateo, the owner of BoxR gym in Miami called me about the idea. I saw that Austin Trout beat Luis in BKFC and figured it’ll be an entertaining format of getting back in,” Rosado told Bare Knuckle Nation. “I’m knocking him out early.”
Rosado’s main objective is a bout against Edgar Berlanga, who most recently went the distance in a better-than-expected bout against Canelo Alvarez in September. Rosado and Berlanga have circled one another for many years as potential opponents, and Rosado was even on the DAZN pay-per-view broadcast for Canelo-Berlanga.
The 38-year old says that he and Berlanga have discussed fighting in Puerto Rico, and that both sides have had genuine discussions about the fight.
“Berlanga is walking around happy he hit the lottery,” Rosado said with a laugh. “Dude didn’t win one round. He said we would fight after Canelo, so I’m holding him and his father to their word! Eddie (Hearn) wants the fight and his manager Keith Connolly called me about it. So it’s up to Berlanga to share the stage in Puerto Rico against another fan-friendly Puerto Rican. Maybe he’s too insecure to share the stage with someone the island may like a little more.”
The 44-year old Palomino hasn’t fought since losing his welterweight title to Trout in February of this year, and has never competed in a gloved boxing match. It’s the latest example of success in bare knuckle creating high-profile opportunities for BKFC fighters in gloved boxing, as was seen with Mike Perry’s pay-per-view bout against Jake Paul.
As for whether Rosado would consider going the other direction, it’s not something he rules out whatsoever. In fact, it’s a world he was adjacent to back in 2014, when he faced Bryan Vera in the inaugural edition of the short-lived Big Knockout Boxing. The company initially was called Bare Knuckle Boxing, and ran two events in New Hampshire with an eye towards revitalizing the concept of bare knuckle in the United States. The early events featured fighters with adapted gloves with the knuckles cut out of them, but commissions more broadly were not yet on board with the possibility of having less or no padding on fighters’ hands in a boxing match.
Ultimately, the concept was altered and Rosado and Vera fought in a pit, very similar to the one used by Ken Shamrock’s Valor Bare Knuckle organization which debuted in North Dakota a few years back.
“When I fought Vera it wasn’t bare knuckle. We fought with 10oz Grants. But the two-minutes rounds and the small pit made it a more intense,” remembers Rosado. “Who knows, if it paid me one million against the right name anything is possible.”
Magic City Fight Night will also feature the legendary Guillermo Rigondeaux, who will return to the ring against Dannis Aguero Arias in a ten-round bout for a minor WBC title. It remains to be seen if and when Rigondeaux will make his long-rumored BKFC debut, after at least three different dates were floated for his premiere, but none have yet to materialize.
Back in April, Rigondeaux told reporters that he “will be champion” in bare knuckle, adding to a trophy case that includes two Olympic gold medals in the amateurs, and a unified and lineal title in the pros.
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