This weekend in New York, we saw the return of Daniel Jacobs, as he battled his way towards a split-decision victory over Sergiy Derevyachenko in one of the last main events that HBO will air.
Also in New York on Saturday, some more blows were thrown during a heated exchange, but this kind they were verbal shots between two middleweight contenders.
During the kick-off press conference for their Nov. 17 bout, set for DAZN, former title challengers Gabriel Rosado (24-11, 14 KO’s) and Luis Arias (18-1, 9 KO’s) began to size each other up and talk a little bit of trash to begin hyping their matchup.
Arias instantly questioned Rosado’s record.
“I saw the fight with Demetrius [Andrade] and Chris Mannix has said something during the show, he said that losses are overrated, unless you got 11 of ‘em,” Arias said as he looked Rosado’s way.
Arias’ last match was about a year ago, when he clearly lost a unanimous decision to Jacobs.
“But it’s about who you fight,” said Arias. “I took a chance in my last fight. I had the opportunity to skip a lot of steps in the game, to really just jump right in the mix with the top guys, and I took it.”
If there is anything you can say about Rosado, it’s the fact that he really brings experience and pressure into his fights. Arias agrees, and admits that it’s a fight he’s been eyeing for a long time.
“We know what kind of fighter Rosado is,” said Arias. “He’s gonna bring the fight, you know he’s gonna come to fight. I’ve asked for this fight since I was 10-0, and honestly I feel Rosado’s chances of beating me would’ve been a lot better if would’ve been only 10-0 or 14-0. I’m a lot stronger, I’m 28 now, I’m in my prime, I’ve been 12 rounds with one of the biggest guys in the division and I know there’s nothing that Rosado can bring to this fight that’s gonna hurt me, that I haven’t seen, and it ain’t nothing that he got for me.”
Rosado was quick to respond to Arias, and instantly took jabs of his own, questioning the fighter’s effort vs. Jacobs.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity because I feel like I’m the wild card in the middleweight division,” said Rosado. “He said about my losses but win, lose, or draw, everybody respects Gabe Rosado. But you ran like a coward in your last fight with all that shit you was talkin’! So remember that!”
Arias then interrupted Rosado, who has had a knack for leaving the ring bloodied and bruised on a few occasions during his career.
“How many times you been beat up?” Arias asked. “How many times we can’t even know what you look like after the fight? Blood everywhere!”
This surely will tell us where each guy stands in the middleweight division and their is much at stake.
