Tough Philly boxer Gabriel Rosado crushed one of the sport's top prospects with a devastating knockout
- Gabriel Rosado destroyed Bektemir Melikuziev on Saturday in Texas.
- Melikuziev was considered a top prospect but Rosado, the underdog, scored an unlikely win.
- Watch the third-round poleaxing right here.
Tough Philly boxer Gabriel Rosado crushed one of the sport's top prospects with a devastating knockout Saturday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.
Since he was a street-fighting six-year-old, Rosado has been used to the underdog status.
But this weekend he ripped up the form book and scored a monumental win as he inflicted a first pro defeat onto Bektemir Melikuziev, a 25-year-old silver medal Olympian who had been tipped for boxing stardom.
Everything had been going to plan for Melikuziev, who floored Rosado in the first round with a body shot, and looked like he would score another easy win.
And though he was leading on the scorecards, the momentum switched in the third, when Rosado caught Bek "The Bully" with an impeccably timed but risky counter shot that separated the Uzbek super middleweight from his senses.
It was a thunderous punch dispatched with good technique but bad intentions.
That final shot was only the 10th Rosado had landed in the entire fight, with half of those directed at the head, and the other half at the body, according to Compubox data sent to Insider.
Melikuziev, meanwhile, had landed 42 of his 77 punch attempts for a 54.5% accuracy, with his power blows dictating all but the final few seconds of the bout.
Watch Rosado's hammer blow right here:
With his unlikely victory, Rosado improved his record to 26 wins (15 knockouts) against 13 losses and one draw.
He could move into a big fight against the middleweight boxer Jaime Munguia, who defeated Kamil Szeremeta in the Golden Boy on DAZN main event.