On October 26th, “King” Gabriel Rosado (21-9, 13 KO’s) announced via social media that he would be announcing a new opponent and a new trainer. News broke last week that Rosado would return to the ring on December 19th against former IBF welterweight champion “Grand Master” Joshua Clottey (39-4, 22 KO’s) on HBO. Rosado’s new trainer still had yet to be announced.
On October 30th, Rosado took to social media and spoke of his new trainer whom he admired as a fighter. So who is his new trainer? We now know he is none other than former junior middleweight champion and fan favorite “El Feroz” Fernando Vargas (26-5, 22 KO’s).
“Fernando Vargas and I had long talks about rebuilding my career,” said Rosado via Instagram. “I love his passion for the sport. He is a warrior like myself and we are going to give it one hundred percent to do all that we can to be victorious on December 19th. FEROZ & KING!️”
Vargas had a terrific amateur career and competed in the Olympics. He turned pro on March 25th, 1997 destroying Jorge Morales in just 57 seconds on the first round. Vargas would go on to make history and become the youngest junior middleweight champion in boxing history in his fifteenth pro bout. He would fight some of the biggest names in boxing at the peak of his career and although he did not win every bout, he fought his heart out and put on a show. Vargas retired after his split decision loss to Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga in 2007 and was set to return in 2011 but that did not happen and he remained retired. Since then he has had his own reality TV show alongside his family and has opened his own boxing gym and has been training young fighters, most recently Devon De La Hoya (son of Oscar) with the help of Oscar De La Hoya.
