Peter Quillin v Gabriel Rosado

In the first of two world titles fights in the US Peter Quillin (30-0, 22) the WBO Middleweight champion, successfully retained his title via a TKO over the always game Gabriel Rosado (21-7-0-1, 13).

The opening round was somewhat cautious with both men looking to see what the other had. Although it was mostly quiet there was several punches from both men that caught the eye, most notably two stinging left hooks from Quillin one of which seemed to see Rosado's legs buckle.

For those expecting a firefight to break out early the second round was much like the first. Both guys remained patient, looking for a bomb with out leaving an opening for his opponent. The first real bombs landed came from Quillin with one about 2 minutes into the round sending Rosado down for the fights first knockdown.

Unfortunately the firefight didn't set off in round 3 either. The pace did pick up somewhat but neither man really landed too much clean as they each seemed to anticipate the other man's next move. Saying that however Quillin did land a monster counter late in the round that arguably stole him the round. The same patience was shown through much of round 4 though Quillin did land a nice flashy combo late on before Rosado fought back and rocked Quillin in the final seconds.

The late burst in round 4 from Rosado seemed to see him coming out for round 5 with some new found confidence. Strangely this confidence from Rosado seemed to spur him into show boating rather than trying to build on his success. The challenger did come forward though at times seemed too patient with his hands and when he did throw he seemed too predictable allowing Quillin to avoid many of his shots. By the end of the round it appeared that Quillin was back in to things taking advantage of the fact that Rosado was giving him opportunities rather than really taking it to Quillin.

Round 6 again saw Rosado on the front foot though his actual punch out put was still low. It seemed to be more than Quillin's but it was Quillin that was landing the more notable punches, often thrown as counters. Quillin continued to fight as a counter puncher through round 7 landing a notable counter early in the round as Rosado continued to press the action by following the champion. It was with Rosado following Quillin that the champion managed to land several hard uppercuts that really caught the eye. Although the round ended with Rosado cornering Quillin it looked like the champion was trying to lure the challenger on to another big shot.

By round 8 the fight had taken on a relatively repetitive pattern. Rosado would march forward, Quillin would try to counter and they'd end up throwing very little between them. Rosado did manage to have a bit more success but the fight had taken on the identity of something rather mundane. It seemed that although both men are dangerous fighters with solid power they at times didn't seem able to hurt the other. The action, what little their was, came in short bursts and their was never anything sustained. Despite the lack of hard action Rosado was cut badly over the left eye in round 9.

With Rosado's eye a bloody mess he left a giant bulls eye for Quillin to attack, something he did very early in the tenth round bursting it wider. This saw the referee calling in the doctor who, despite Rosado's appeals, called the fight off awarding Quillin a TKO in a very anti-climatic ending to a very disappointing contest.

On the back of this, it's fair to say that the demand for Quillin/Golovkin has actually gone down. Quillin failed to impress and looked very much like a B rate champion here.

Gennady Golovkin v Gabriel Rosado

WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (25-0, 22) was successful in his second bout on US soil as he defeated the incredibly brave Gabriel Rosado (21-6, 13) when Rosado's trainer called for the inspector to stop the fight with Rosado starting to take a bit of a beating.

The first round was incredibly quiet as Golovkin stalked Rosado with a huge amount of pressure though sadly little was landed by either man as Rosado used his legs to stay out of Golovkin's range. This same pattern continued through the second round, though Golovkin did have some notable success in the second with a jab that cut Rosado near the left eye.

Rosado started round 3 with his first major success of the fight as he came forward and had 90 seconds of genuine success as he forced Golovkin on to the back foot. Sadly for Rosado his success came at a cost as Golovkin unleashed on him late in the round as he started to land his own power shots, one of which seemed to really rock Rosado. By the end of the round Rosado's cut was starting to look worse as Golovkin's power started to really take it's toll on Rosado's flesh.

Sadly for Rosado it seemed that no matter what he did Golovkin just took, especially in round 4, when he landed a huge right hand and in round 5 where Rosado seemed to realise he had to try and fight Golovkin off him. Sadly when you try to fight Golovkin off you merely seem to piss him off. By the end of the fifth Rosado's nose was bloody, his face was filling into a bloody mess. Through the sixth round Golovkin really went to town and rocked Rosado with a body shot before further worsening the cuts that the Dr had looked at at the start of the round.

By now it was obvious that Rosado wasn't going going to quit, though unfortunately for him he was simply out gunned and took a real beating in the seventh round that eventually caused his corner to throw in the towel to save their man any further punishment. By now Rosado was running on fumes and giving little more than a blood donation to all at ringside.

As a class act by Golovkin, the champion did invite Rosado to his gym to train in the future, and it sees a mutual bond between the two was formed as both seemed highly complimentary of the other.