Gabriel Rosado defeats Sechew Powell to grab WBO Inter-Continental light middleweight title – Boxing News
Gabriel Rosado, the former NABA light middleweight champion, stunned the boxing universe by collecting an impressive ninth round technical knockout win over fellow countryman Sechew Powell, the former International Boxing Association Intercontinental light
middleweight champion, in a 12-round bout held on June 1, 2012.
The duo headlined the pay-per-view which was televised live from Sands Casino Resort situated in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States. The event was jointly organised and promoted by J Russell Peltz of Peltz Boxing Promotions, Incorporation and Kathy Duva
of Main Events.
The night was co-headlined by the 12-round bout between Ronald Cruz and Prenice Brewer for the vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title. Gabriel, 26, was entering in his 25th career bout and boasted 19 wins.
The young American proud has nailed 11 of his opponents by knockout and was on a successful five-bout win streak after his last loss to Derek Ennis, a bout for the USBA light middleweight gold.
Gabriel also holds the USA Pennsylvania State light middleweight title which he grabbed by nailing Keenan Collins via unanimous decision. As far as the experience is concerned, Rosado, also known as the ‘King’, was a bit overshadowed by Powell’s resume.
Sechew, 32, was entering in his 31st career bout and boasted 26 wins with 15 coming from sheer knockout. In addition, Powell, also known as the ‘Iron House’, had the unique advantage of the southpaw stance as Rosado follows the right-hook brawling style.
The experience and the southpaw stance did aid Powell in the bout but his continuous two losses and the height disadvantage cost him extremely. Gabriel not only had the larger reach advantage but was also confident because of his recently constructed win-streak.
The WBO Intercontinental light middleweight title bout kicked off and as it was expected, Rosado started things off slowly and quite defensively. It was not that Rosado was intimidated but because Powell was coming full throttle with his left hooks.
Rosado, after carefully understanding Powell’s stance, leashed his own attack and made a classic combination of speed, agility, footwork which was accompanied by well targeted jabs. Powell who started off aggressively got fatigued in the later rounds and
Rosado who still had decent energy levels capitalised Sechew’s worn out situation.
During the ninth round, Rosado decided to move in for the kill as Powell was not able to even stand on his feet properly and seemed somewhat dizzy. At two minutes and 43 seconds, the referee halted the bout as Rosado unleashed a huge wave of jabs continuously
pummelling Powell so much so that he got flattened on the ring floor.
With this impressive win, Rosado now possesses two titles round his waist and is now eyeballing the undefeated Saul Alvarez for his title. Powell, on the other hand, has collected his third consecutive and fifth career loss and direly needs to revamp his
strategies so as to make a comeback.
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