Ali Akhmedov and Gabriel Rosado battle on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin undercard (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom).
LAS VEGAS — This was a good way to break the rust of a nine-month layoff. Super middleweight Ali Akhmedov had not fought since December 2021. Gabriel Rosado had not fought since April.
Akhmedov, the tall fighter from Kazakhstan, was looking to be relevant again at 168. Rosado brought his Philadelphia brand of toughness and little else as he lost three of his last four.
Make it four of his last five now, after Akhmedov won a 10-round unanimous decision over the plucky Rosado on the Canelo Alvarez-Gennadiy Golovkin III portion of the undercard Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
All the judges scored a 100-90 shutout for Akhmedov (19-1, 14 KOs).
The first two rounds saw both fighters start tentatively. Rosado, 36, a canny veteran of 43 fights, set up his jab early on and pushed his 27-year-old opponent back.
It wasn’t until the third that Akhmedov began to open up. He landed a right hand in the first minute of the round, before Rosado (26-16-1, 15 KOs) began to jab. The Pink “King” seemed content to wait and counter Akhmedov, though he did it from a distance that didn’t work.
Akhmedov threw a combination through Rosado’s high guard in the closing seconds of the quarter. A right hand from Akhmedov was particularly stinging, forcing the plucky Rosado back.
Midway through the fifth, Akhmedov deflected a combination off Rosado, whose defenses were beginning to slow down. King’s jab from distance did nothing but dent the air. As soon as he reached out with his left arm, Akhmedov attacked. A short right hand from Akhmedov caught Rosado in the chin and tripped the tough Philly boxer.
From then on, it seemed like a matter of time, although Rosado was not going to go easy. He hadn’t been arrested since 2014. King kept that streak intact.
For the seventh, despite his courage, Rosado needed a knockout to win. As the rounds went on, he was getting easier and easier to hit. He more defensive, more in survival mode than trying to do anything to win.
For Akhmedov, it was a great way to break the rust against a solid, tough pro.
Diego Pacheco stopped Enrique Collazo in five (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom).
Austin Williams promised he would light up the Alvarez-Golovkin card. “Ammo” won, albeit a pedestrian performance from left-handed middleweight Williams (12-0, 9 KOs) and Kieron Conway (18-3-1, 4 KOs). Williams won a 10-round unanimous decision by being the more aggressive fighter, without fireworks.
Diego Pacheco (16-0, 13 KOs) continues to look impressive. The 21-year-old super middleweight started off slow, then exploded over Enrique Collazo (16-3-1, 11 KOs) in the fifth, ending the contest at 2:29.
Lightweight Marc Castro celebrates his victory over Kevin Montiel Mendoza (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom).
Thanks to a brutal right uppercut to the chin, lightweight Marc Castro (8-0, 6 KOs) remained undefeated with a fifth-round knockout at 1:40 over Kevin Montiel Mendoza (6-2-2, 3 KOs).
In a good eight-round fight at junior welterweight, Aaron Aponte (6-0-1, 2 KOs) and Fernando Angel Molina (8-0-1, 3 KOs) fought to a split draw. Both fighters were knocked down. Aponte dropped Molina in the second, and Molina put Aponte down late in the fifth, with Aponte in bigger trouble.
Junior bantamweight Anthony Herrera (3-0-1, 2 KO) opened the evening with a fifth-round unanimous technical decision over Delvin McKinley (4-4-1, 4 KO). The fight was stopped at :19 of the fifth when the fighters butted heads.
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can follow him on twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com].
