David Benavidez warns Munguia about Rosado ‘Sneaky power’

David Benavidez is leaning in the direction of Gabe Rosado to defeat former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia this Saturday, November 13th in their 12 round headliner on DAZN at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Rosado, who fights at 168, will be coming down in weight to face Munguia at 160. We’ll see if the drop in weight impacts Rosado’s power and energy, as he’s looked good at 168 in his last three fights.

The much younger 25-year-old Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) is viewed as the favorite in the eyes of many boxing fans, as he’s got the power, size, and youth over the 35-year-old Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs).

Last June, Munguia, and Rosado shared the same card at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. Munguia defeated former middleweight world title challenger Kamil Szeremeta by a sixth round stoppage.

For his part, Rosado destroyed the much tougher foe in stopping Bektemir Melikuziev in the third round. After their wins, Rosado and Munguia agreed to fight.

It’s an interesting fight on paper. The winner will be in a position to challenge for a world title at middleweight.

Benavidez (24-0, 21 KOs) is fighting on the undercard in a 10 round contest against replacement opponent Kyrone Davis (16-2-1, 6 KOs). He was previously scheduled to fight Jose Uzcategui, but he had to pull out due to an illness.

Rosado could pull off upset

“It was a good sparring session. I’ve been trying to spar him for a while,” said Benavidez to Fighthype on Munguia. “We’re fighting the same day, so we got some great rounds of sparring with him.

“I got a couple of sessions in with him, so it was great. I learned from him, he learned from me, and it was a great sparring session overall.

“There’s a lot of momentum on both sides because Munguia is undefeated, but you’ve got to look at Gabe Rosado. He’s one of the best prospects at 168 for a long, long time.

“He beat Bek the ‘Bully’ [Bektemir Melikuziev]. He didn’t just beat him, he knocked him out,” Benavidez said about Rosado in his third round knockout win over the hard-hitting Bektemir last June.

“But the fight [Rosado vs. Munguia] is going down to 160. It’s going to be a good fight. Knowing Gabe personally, sparring with him, and seeing his power and everything he does first hand, I feel like he has a really great opportunity to beat Munguia.

“It’s up to both men. Munguia is a great fighter and a great pressure fighter, but I feel like Gabe may pull off the upset. It’s going to be a good fight,” said Benavidez.

If Munguia fights in his normal wide-open style, Rosado could time him and catch him with a counter shot in the same way he did in his stoppage of Bektimer.

That guy is a bigger puncher than Munguia, and more dangerous. Somehow, Rosado figured him out and scored a knockout.

Benavidez says Gabe has “sneaky power”

“I don’t think it’s going to be easy for him, but it’s going to be a good fight,” said Benavidez about Munguia. “I’m leaning a little bit towards Gabe in this one. I think because of his experience too. He’s got sneaky power,” said Benavidez about Rosado.

“He’ll let you hit him, and then I think a lot of people just like what happened to Bek. He thought, ‘I’ll get this guy out of here,’ and then Gabe will land one big shot. He puts everything into them, and he has that going for him.

“When Munguia gets hit, his defense is not all that,” said Benavidez. “It’s going to be a hard fight, but these are the exciting fights that people need to see. An old veteran [Rosado] against a young lion [Munguia] coming up.

“It’s going to be an exciting fight, but like I said, I think Gabe has too much experience. He has a lot of momentum from that last fight [against Bek]. So he knows how to deal with a really big power puncher like Bek the Bully.

“It’s going to be a good fight. I wish it wasn’t on the same day as my fight. I would have watched it,” said Benavidez.

Munguia has a pretty good chin, so there’s a possibility he could handle Rosado’s power and dominate him like he’s been doing lately.

If Munguia wins, he wants to challenge IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin for his title.