Staff picks: Jacobs vs Rosado

This Friday night (Nov. 27, 8 pm ET) on DAZN, former middleweight titleholder Daniel Jacobs returns to action in Florida for a super middleweight main event against veteran Gabriel Rosado, as the two look to settle a social media beef.

That may not seem like the best reason to have a main event fight, and it isn’t, so more realistically you can look at this as the 33-year-old Jacobs (36-3, 30 KO) looking to get active and shake some rust against the 34-year-old Rosado (25-12-1, 14 KO), and for Rosado, it’s obviously a big shot at an upset, one that could launch him back to another unexpected title shot.

Who gets the win on Friday? Our staffers make their picks.

Scott Christ

As a boxing fan first and foremost, I really like Gabe Rosado. Here’s a fighter who started his career going 15-5 in his first 20 bouts, which is not usually a recipe for getting yourself into world title fights. He got to a couple. I say and mean it when I say it: Rosado is a better fighter than his 25-12 record indicates. He’s got a level of ability that could easily have him holding a much shinier record if he’d been a protected prospect, if he’d been managed more carefully later, etc. He has fought a lot of good opponents. But the reality is that he’s also lost, generally pretty convincingly, to his best opponents. What’s his best win? Jesus Soto Karass or Sechew Powell in 2012? Kassim Ouma in 2009? A blown-up Joshua Clottey in 2015? It could have been Martin Murray in 2017. It almost was Maciej Sulecki in 2019.

Daniel Jacobs has his flaws as a fighter, doesn’t always go for it when he could, seemed hesitant at times against both Golovkin and Canelo — though he was competitive with both, I always wonder if he might have been able to do more in those fights, or if the level just got the better of him. But Rosado is the type of guy Jacobs beats without a whole lot of trouble. Every fight like this Rosado gets has an elevated chance of being the last one, and he might go for broke and get himself in trouble. But I think it goes the distance, and rightly wide on the cards in Jacobs’ favor. Jacobs UD-12

Wil Esco

You know, good on Gabe Rosado for proving that your record doesn’t always mean everything in boxing. I mean, normally any fighter with a dozen losses would never find themselves in a headliner, but Rosado has shown that his courage and passion drives fan enthusiasm, and that’s why he keeps getting opportunities. The only problem for Rosado here is that he’s proven over his career that he has a distinctly clear ceiling, one he’s never been able to really break through no matter how many shots he gets.

Rosado is never really in a bad fight so I expect him to bring some excitement to this fight, but there’s just too much wear and tear on Rosado at this point for me to believe that at age 34, after the countless battles, he’s going to be fresh and skilled enough to beat Jacobs. I’m certainly no big fan of Jacobs’ fighting style, but I think he does enough to take the fight on points. Jacobs UD-12

How to Watch Jacobs vs Rosado

Date: Friday, Nov. 27 | Start Time: 8:00 pm ET
Location: Seminole Hard Rock – Hollywood, FL
Stream: DAZN
Live Online Coverage: BadLeftHook.com

Patrick L. Stumberg

As laudable as Rosado’s toughness is, the fact remains that it’s failed to get him over the hump, and taking two clean knockdowns from a light puncher in Maciej Sulecki suggests that he’s hit the point of diminishing returns. Even at his best, he’d struggle mightily with a fighter of Jacobs’ caliber, and now you have to question whether he’ll even last the distance.

Jacobs is just too big, too fast, too sharp, and too well-seasoned for Rosado. “King” may be gritter than Gritty, but there’s nothing going for him in this matchup. Jacobs puts him on his butt at least once over 12 dominant rounds. Jacobs UD-12

Lewis Watson

I can’t really see a path to victory for Gabe in this one. The underdog cuts easily, hasn’t got a particularly savvy boxing style and up at super middleweight, it’s hard to envisage him holding the sort of power that is going to trouble a Jacobs that has gone the distance with Canelo and Golovkin. Rosado has 12 defeats against his name and four by the way of stoppage — Jacobs will be looking to make a statement in this contest and the only way he’ll turn heads is by stopping the Philly fighter. Rosado seems pumped for this fight and his emotions may lead him down a path towards a dead end. Jacobs TKO-8

And the staff winner is…

Daniel Jacobs (4-0)!