HBO BAD Under Card Results: Golovkin TKOs Rosado in 7, Martinez-Burgos Fight to a Draw

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Gennady Golovkin vs. Gabriel Rosado:

Gennady Golovkin found himself on the winning side of his second consecutive HBO appearance in the co main event of Garcia-Salido when he scored a TKO over a battered and bloody Gabriel Rosado to retain his WBA middleweight crown and remain undefeated. Rosado came into the fight with a lot of confidence and even decided to forgo the 158lb catch weight and take the fight at the full middleweight limit of 160, a decision some called foolish while others applauded Rosado’s stance on catch weights in boxing.

Golovkin displayed brilliance early on as he landed hard right hands and even managed to open up a small cut on Rosado’s left eye in the 2nd round. As the fight continued Golovkin was becoming increasingly accurate while it was apparent that Rosado was out classed.

Rosado did have some success from time to time in certain rounds and he remained game during the entire fight, showing no signs of quitting. It was obvious that Rosado was landing, evident of Golovkin’s face after the fight; still, Golovkin was the one landing the most meaningful punches in the ring. Golovkin displayed power, but it was a unique type of power that seemed to devastate regardless of effort. It didn’t matter what Golovkin threw because every punch that landed seem to shake Rosado up. The power seemed effortless and the intensity of Golovkin’s punches didn’t seem to vary the power behind them; it was almost as if Golovkin’s gloves needed only to graze Rosado and yet it was enough to carry meaningful power behind them.

By the 6th round Rosado was covered in blood and the Doctor said he’d give him one more chance to show him he can protect enough to continue, even Rosado’s trainer Billy Briscoe asked his man whether he wanted to continue. It was clear that someone other than Rosado would have to make the right call because he is one of the gutsiest fighters in the game. In the 7th round Briscoe had seen enough and he threw in the towel, clearly in the best interest of his fighter. Golovkin is living up to his reputation with each outing and he is becoming must see TV.

 

Juan Carlos Burgos vs. Roman “Rocky” Martinez:

Juan Carlos Burgos and Roman Martinez opened up the televised portion of the card in a junior lightweight title fight. Burgos was vicious to the body and displayed some excellent precision, while Martinez was ineffective in his game plan. Burgos set a pace that Martinez found difficult to operate under, but the biggest thing was Martinez’s inability to keep momentum during the times he found success.

It seemed pretty obvious that Burgos’ power was more effective than that of Martinez. The fight itself was eventful at times, but going into the matchup expectations were high and in that perspective the fight was a bit of a letdown.  Still, the fight wasn’t a complete snoozer at all and it was fairly competitive, though not for long stretches.

After 12 rounds it seemed as though Burgos had controlled the fight long enough to be considered the obvious winner. But that wasn’t the case as the judges saw it 117-111 for Burgos, 116-112 for Martinez, and 114-114 even which resulted in a draw.

At first impression, I felt as though Burgos had been robbed of the win and his first championship title; Thaboxingvoice.com scored the fight 117-111 for Burgos. However, I went back and saw the fight again, taking my time to review certain rounds more than once. I still feel Burgos won the fight, but I was able to give Martinez one more round and saw another swing round that could’ve gone to Martinez. Still, the 116-112 score for Martinez was absurd and while the fight was a bit closer the second time around I think Burgos dictated enough of the action to pull off the victory.