Peter Quillin v Gabriel Rosado

The Middleweight division is one of boxing's weirdest ones. It has a lot of good fighters in it, a lot of fantastic possibilities and a lot of potential excitement. Unfortunately for all the good things about it we also have politics really preventing the match ups fans want and instead we've been getting second tier fighters dressed up as world title contenders.

Unfortunately we get one of those again this weekend as WBO world champion Peter Quillin (29-0, 21) takes on the always game but limited Gabriel Rosado (21-6, 13), a man who's limitations at world level have been shown more than once.

Rosado is a decent fighter. Key word "decent", he's a proverbial gate keeper and will defeat some contenders but with losses to Fernando Guerrero, Alfredo Angulo, Derek Ennis and Gennady Golovkin in the last 4 and a bit years he does seem to be getting more than his share of chances. Of course the fact Rosado isn't linked to either of the two big promoters and is easy to deal with does work in his favour though when you figure his best wins are over Kassim Ouma, Jesus Soto Karass and Sechew Powell you do struggle to think of him as a world level fighter.

Despite his limitations Rosado is tough, brings excitement with his pressure, and refuses to back down from a fight. He's the sort of guy who will make fans almost every time he gets in the ring, win or lose. As Golovkin described him, rather affectionately, he's a "good boy", a nice hard working fighter who is genuinely hard to root against, despite his lack of world level qualifications.

The hard hitting Quillin, who claimed his world title by defeating Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, will be making the second defense of his title. His first came in a very easy victory over Fernando Guerrero, a man who in all honesty had done nothing to deserve a world title fight. The class and power difference between the Quillin and Guerrero was obvious from the opening bell and Quillin just cruised past his challenger.

Quillin, whilst not the most technically gifted is skilled, determined, heavy handed and he sort of fighter who hurts you every time he lands. Sometimes he can be made to look lazy if a fighter uses their feet against him but in the end he knows that his pressure will pay off and he'll get to land his shots. Oddly in that respect he's a bit like Arthur Abraham, though a lot more athletically gifted and a lot less rigid in what he does.

With Guerrero having beaten Rosado but been squashed by Quillin I think this shows the level the two men are on. Quillin losing would be a major upset. Despite that there is something interesting about this bout. Can Quillin stop Rosado quicker than Golovkin? That's pretty much it.

With fans wanting Quillin v Golovkin this bout may add pressure to that happening. Unfortunately politics between HBO and Showtime will stand in the way, at least for now, though it's a bout that could well linger if both men are happy to face fringe contenders the next few years and pick up relatively easy victories waiting for the networks and promoters to actually put their differences behind them for the sake of the sport.

Prediction-Quillin TKO6 (beating Golovkin by a round)