Gabriel Rosado – I’m having a great camp, I’m excited about this fight. This is the last week of sparring and I’m just ready to roll.
Q – Can you talk about the difficulty and maybe the hesitance in parting ways with a trainer you’ve worked with so long?
G. Rosado – Yes, Billy Briscoe, he was my trainer for about 10 years. But it just kind of got to the point where I just felt that it wasn’t anything personal, it’s just business and I thought that in order for me to take it to that next level, I had to make a move. And Jesse Reid is one of the best trainers in the world. He’s trained 25 World Champions and it’s funny how it just worked out.
I just went to the gym and I asked if he could wrap my hands up one time and he wrapped me up. And then I asked him if he could work with me in the corner when I was getting ready for a sparring session and he just started giving me advice and I started listening to his advice and it was actually working. We just clicked from there and I just feel that I’m a much better fighter right now and I’m learning a lot of new things.
Q
I can only imagine, that maybe it was hard in having that discussion with Billy, saying I’m going to try something else. Is it difficult, emotionally, having to do that?
G. Rosado
It was difficult, but the thing is that me and Billy, we’re like family and when I brought it to Billy’s attention, what he told me is he felt that if that’s what I feel that I need to do to progress, he was all in and he said it was fine. We parted ways on a good note; I spoke with him not so long ago, a couple-probably about last week. So, everything’s all good, man. He just wants me to be better and I just feel like I’m having a great camp right now.
Q
You usually train in Philadelphia for your fights, if I’m not mistaken; where are you training with Jesse?
G. Rosado
I train with Jesse-I moved to Los Angeles so Jesse’s gym is actually about a 10 minute ride up the block in Burbank. I just go up, I’m in the gym usually around 11 in the morning and that’s when we do our start and we do our workouts. I’m back and forth from Los Angeles to Philly. I have a place in Philly and I have a place in Los Angeles. When it’s training camp, my last training camp, when I fought Vera, I did it in Los Angeles. I’m doing my training camp now in Los Angeles.
Q
What is your perspective on the fact that, they look at Lemieux as a guy that has to get past the gate keeper, Gabe Rosado, that’s how they label you, to move onto the bigger and better things. But I know you still have aspirations yourself, so how important is it to, yes, be in good fights all the time, but you got to win at some point, don’t you?
G. Rosado
Yes. Okay, I feel that I’ve had controversial decisions. I think the fans spoke up loudly when I fought J’Leon Love, and they all felt that that was a fight that I won. And then with Peter Quillin, it was a fight where I honestly felt I was on the verge of getting a knockout; I felt like I had the momentum on my side. I had Quillin on his heels. And it’s a fight that the fans were seeing this and the commentators all had me up on that fight, when the fight got stopped; and it got stopped in the championship rounds.
So, I think, they’re losses, but they’re fights that people say ‘He was winning on the commentators’ score card,’ it was a fight that people felt that-it’s not like taking a loss where I just flat out lost. When I fought Charlo, I flat out lost to Charlo. It was a fight that I think a lot of that had to do with me thinking I could make 154-pounds again and I killed myself to make the weight.
But when we’re talking middleweight, the only guy that really beat me legit at the middleweight division was Gennady Golovkin. But when you look at the Love fight and you look at the Peter Quillin fight, those are the fights that the fans felt I was winning and so did I. So, the fans, they know better and you can’t fool the fans and I think that’s why I’m getting this fight and, honestly, I really don’t feel that Lemieux’s the favorite in this fight.
The media might think that, but I think the fans will get this fight and Lemieux has something to prove because this is his first fight in America; not too many people know Lemieux. People know what I bring to the table and I think with me having Jesse Reid in my corner now and having a new team and doing training camp in Los Angeles, I think you’re going to see a much better fighter in me and I just can’t wait to prove that on the 6th.
Q
Are you insulted by being the “B-side” or do you just feel like I have losses that are better than what they look like on paper and so let me just go in there and take care of this kid?
G. Rosado
Yes. I’m really not insulted by it because, like I said, at the end of the day, what matters to me most is what the fans think and the fans keep me relevant and they want to keep seeing me fight. And I just use it as motivation. I think Lemieux, he’s the one with the title, he’s the one with the strap so he should be the A-side. I think I have the bigger name and I fought the bigger opponents and things like that. But, we are fighting for a title and traditionally the guy with the belt is the one with the A-side.
Q
Robert, from a promoter’s standpoint, from a matchmaker’s standpoint, what does this represent for both fighters?
R. Diaz
Well, I know a lot of times we’re into that culture, it’s a crossroad fight. But look, when you have fighters like David Lemieux and you have fighters like Gabe Rosado, fighting, bringing it together, putting these guys in, I think, after the fight, the fans are going to be like “wow, what a fight.” That’s what keeps boxing alive. We’re too quick to write off a guy because oh, he lost a fight. So what? As long as it’s a great fight, they don’t lose. The fans win; boxing wins.
So, let’s enjoy it while it’s still there. Hey, let’s see; this is going to answer a lot of questions. Gabe is focused, he’s ready, he’s hungry. He knows what this represents. He told you, new trainer, new weight division. I expect fireworks and I’m very excited about this fight.
Q
When you step out of the ring and you’re frustrated, what turns your frustration into a desire to turn it to go back to the ring?
G. Rosado
Yes, it definitely helps when I went through some tough losses in my career, the fans definitely speak up and they definitely show me love on social media and it’s mostly love more than it is negativity. And they definitely motivate me. The fans definitely keep me relevant because they speak up and they speak their minds. So, I definitely appreciate that and it definitely makes me want to go to the gym and work harder.
This fight right here is a fight where I want to win and I definitely want to win it for the fans because it’s kind of like they’re just waiting for me to get my break already. They’re just waiting for me to just get that win and I think, right now, I’m training to my full potential. I’m training really hard. Regardless of the bad decisions, or whatever the case may be, I think a lot of it had to do with me needing to be a lot more disciplined and refocused and I think that’s what I’m doing now.
Q
Talk about what you hear, in some of the messages that you’ve heard from fans that make you believe that you still have it and that you should go back.
G. Rosado
A lot of people just say that I’m an inspiration to them, things like that; I get that a lot and I think it’s because they know my background. I never had a big manager, I never started off with a big promoter. I pretty much worked my whole career having a graveyard shift or just doing odd jobs and training for fights. So I’m kind of like the blue collar guy so, I think the fans kind of relate to me and they’re pulling for me because it’s like they can relate to me on that level. I stay humble; I don’t get big headed or anything like that. I stay humble; I always remember where I come from and I think that’s why the fans relate to me.
Q
You said you met Jesse Reid in the gym; when gym was that and then what are some things that stand out that you learned from working with him so far?
G. Rosado
With Reid, he just saw a lot of potential in me. He just has me doing things that I really wasn’t thinking about in the past. He has me sitting on my shots a lot better, using my rotation, using my smarts, and it’s just a lot that I think is definitely going to show on the 6th. My last fight with Vera, even though it wasn’t a traditional boxing match, I did that camp with Jesse Reid, and I was a lot faster in that fight, I was a lot stronger in that fight, and I think we’re just going to use that momentum from that fight coming into this fight.
Q
What gym was it that Jesse Reid was wrapping your hands? Where you met him?
G. Rosado
We train at his gym and Powerhouse. I walked into the gym and asked him to wrap me up, he wrapped me up. And then I asked him to help me work in the sparring session, and he did. And he just started giving me advice; I started listening. And I was pulling it off in the sparring session and it just kind of made me feel like this is the guy I need.
Q
Hey, Gabe, I was just wondering of what you think of David Lemieux, obviously, he’s a big puncher and he’s got a lot of knockouts, but what do you think of him as a fighter and what his record is in terms of the competition that he’s fought throughout his career?
G. Rosado
I’m not taking David Lemieux lightly. I think he comes in there and he tries to go for the kill; he tries to go for the knockout, throwing a lot of big shots. It’s nothing that I haven’t seen in the past, I think I’ve fought the best Middleweights out there right now. I think I just need to use my experience and my ring smarts in this fight and we have a strong game plan in what we’re going to do and I feel that my game plan is going to succeed.
Q
What do you think about the level of competition, mostly, that he’s faced?
G. Rosado
I really don’t know much of who he fought. I know the two names that I really know are Marco Antonio Rubio and Fernando Guerrero. I just thought that-he’s a young guy so I’m not going to take him lightly. If he’s in the gym, he’s working on getting better. Maybe he learned from those mistakes and maybe he’s working on being a better fighter so I’m preparing myself for the best Lemieux and I’m just being smart and I feel that if I stick to my game plan, I should win.
Q
Gabe, do you feel like this is a fight that you absolutely must win?
G. Rosado
I look at every fight like that. But I think this time around I’m a lot more mature, I’ve been through a lot of iffy experiences in boxing. So I know what I need to do; I know what mistakes not to do, what I did in the past. Regardless of the decisions, the bad calls, or whatever the case may be, I feel that I take some blame for those losses as well.
I felt that maybe I should have been a little more disciplined, a little more focused, and I think living in L.A. right now and having Jesse Reid as a coach is definitely making me a lot more mature as a fighter. It’s making me more disciplined and I kind of see the big picture.
I don’t want to look past David Lemieux, but the goal is to be a World Champion so I definitely feel that winning this fight puts me in that position where I can get a world title again and I can fight one of the champions out there.
Q
What were some of the mistakes that you felt that you made in the past, in terms of not being disciplined?
G. Rosado
They weren’t big things, it’s the little things that mean a lot. I think, maybe, I wasn’t resting well enough. Maybe the diet wasn’t as good as it should have been. It’s just those little things. Now, when I train, I go straight to the house and I rest. We have a rhythm going on; we get up at five in the morning, do our rope work and then we relax for a little bit and then we go to the boxing gym. There’s a routine. Every day is a routine; there’s a schedule. I’m resting better, I’m eating better. So I think once you fall into a rhythm of doing things right, you see much better improvement. I think that’s what I’m doing now; that’s making a difference.
Q
We talked a little bit about some of the close losses that you had in recent times, but you did have that win in the BKB event in the summer against Bryan Vera. It was a nice knockout.
Can you describe what that was like and, also, even though it didn’t count as an official boxing match, the fact that you won and looked good and knocked the guy out, if that had a big impact on you getting this kind of fight on HBO?
G. Rosado
Absolutely, absolutely. It definitely was a different experience, but at the end of the day when the bell rang, it felt like a fight. The only difference is there were no ropes, but everything was boxing, all boxing rules; everything. Getting that win definitely got me the momentum going for this fight. So I feel very confident going into this fight because I felt strong against Bryan Vera. I did something against Bryan Vera that Chavez couldn’t do. I did everything the same as a regular boxing match. I had a strong training camp and I think people saw my skills in that fight and they saw a different me. They saw me faster, they saw me sharper, they saw me sitting on my shots. People took notice that I looked real good and it was the first time that me and Jesse Reid went into a fight. I was taking Jesse Reid’s advice. And the round that I actually knocked Bryan Vera out was the round that Jesse Reid told me to go get him.
L. Milner
Alright, thanks. We are going to turn it over, but Gabe, do you have any closing comments?
G. Rosado
No. No, that’s it. I just got to head to the gym and get ready for sparring.
R. Diaz
Gabe, thank you so much, man. Thanks for taking the time and we’ll look forward to seeing you next week, man. Take care.
