Rosado on Kirkland: He Asked For 'Double' The Purse!

By Steve Kim

At this time last week it looked like a junior middlweight crossroads bout between Gabe Rosado and James Kirkland was going to take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California on December 19th, as part of an HBO 'Boxing After Dark' telecast.

But alas, the flighty Kirkland changed his mind abruptly.

"I was nervous about it,"admitted Rosado on Thursday afternoon at the Madison Square Garden, where he was in attendance for the undercard press conference for the Golovkin-Lemieux pay-per-view show that takes place on Saturday night.

"I was like,'Man, he's so unpredictable, you never know with him.' And he did exactly what I was scared off, pulling out of the fight."

According to Rosado - "We signed the contracts, it was a done deal. They said we were good to go on December 19th in Los Angeles, it was the main event on HBO. It's a great opportunity and he just all of a sudden starts asking for double the purse and I'm just like - 'Why, we're good. We'll make some good money, main event on HBO. We both got the opportunity to get back on the map.' So I don't know, I just don't know how he works."

Rosado last fought on December 6th, 2014, where he was stopped in ten by David Lemieux. Now he finds himself looking for another fight.

"I spoke with (Golden Boy) today and they told me about a good fight. They definitely want me to fight again this year, possibly an opener for HBO at the end of the year. So it's not guaranteed, yet, but that's what I'm hoping for," said Rosado, who has a record of 21-9 (13 KO's).

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScenecom.