DEREK ENNIS vs GABRIEL ROSADO

There is an echo of the past about promoter Russell Peltz’s show in Philadelphia on Friday, when Derek Ennis defends his USBA junior middle title against Gabriel Rosado. Both boxers live in Philadelphia, and Peltz has been recalling some of the great all-Philly showdowns of yesteryear.
 
“In 1961, when I was 14 years old, my dad took me to the old Arena at 46th & Market Street to see Harold Johnson defend his light-heavyweight title against Von Clay,” Peltz said in a communication from his office a couple of weeks ago.  “Johnson was from Manayunk and Von Clay was from West Philadelphia.  
 
“It was an unusually hot night in late April and the Arena was not air-conditioned and you couldn’t move in there it was so packed.  It was sweltering.

“We sat on the first row. Johnson was my boyhood idol and when he knocked Clay out in the second round, my emotions ran wild.  I was ecstatic that Johnson had won but I was upset at Clay because I wanted to see more of the fight.

“It was the second time I had been to a fight in person and the first time at an all-Philly showdown.  There were plenty to follow.”
 
When Peltz began promoting he played his own part in Philadelphia’s rich ring history.
 
Peltz isn’t comparing Ennis and Rosado to the Philadelphia greats of the past, but he does believe that the 12-rounder can strike a chord with the city’s boxing fans — the fight posters have an old-school look about them.
 
The fight is being shown on the Internet, on gofightlive. It should be a highly competitive match. I haven’t seen a betting line, but then the oddsmaker covered a lot of ground this week and there are only so many hours in the week.
 
I make this almost an even fight. Ennis has won nine bouts in a row, and he is quick and clever, but Rosado has the better wins. Although Alfredo Angulo blew out Rosado in two rounds there isn’t any shame in that — Angulo is very heavy handed, and if he catches an opponent he usually closes the show. Rosado, unfortunately, for him, got nailed before he could get into the fight — it happens.
 
On Friday, Rosado meets a boxer who, while fast punching, isn’t considered a very hard hitter — five of Ennis’s last six wins were on points.
 
I see Rosado as the stronger, bigger and simply more solid-looking fighter. Ennis is flashier but Rosado seems to me to be more of a dependable type of boxer. He ended the unbeaten run of Irish prospect James Moore and defeated ex-champ Kassim Ouma and Mexico’s well-regarded Saul Roman. Fernando Guerrero proved to be a bit too fierce and insistent, but Rosado dropped the unbeaten southpaw and provided gritty resistance right the way to the final bell.
 
Each man has good boxing skills but I believe that Rosado can begin to impose authority with superior strength and harder punching. I get the impression that Ennis likes to box at a pace that is comfortable for him, and I don’t think that Rosado will allow this. With local pride at stake, the fight has special meaning to both. There should be plenty of spirited, back-and-forth boxing to entertain the fans, but I see Rosado hurting Ennis a bit more than Ennis hurts him. I’ll go with Rosado, probably by decision.
 
• Arce-Castillo, Donovan George-Francisco Sierra and Khurtsidze-Khomitski previews added to members-only section.