SAUL ROMAN vs GABRIEL ROSADO

No wagering lines were offered, but there’s an interesting junior middleweight bout on Fox Sports Espanol on Saturday night, with Mexico’s Saul Roman, who is on a four-bout winning run, meeting Gabriel Rosado, who has won three of his last four fights.

I think this is intended as a breakthrough fight for Roman, who has had an up-and-down type of career.

Roman has been stopped three times, and he was outboxed by Yuri Foreman, but he has an aggressive style and he can punch. I thought that Roman showed some give when he went down from a body blow against Sergio Martinez, but, in a career-best performance, he outfought Kassim Ouma in what was regarded as a significant upset.

Rosado also holds a win over Ouma, and although he lost he dropped the unbeaten Fernando Guerrero in a sizzling fight. Blown out in two rounds by a rampaging Alfredo Angulo last August, Rosado came back with an excellent win when he stopped Latif Mundy in the seventh round of an all-Philadelphia fight.

Roman against Rosado is a well-matched fight that should provide spirited entertainment. Rosado is a competent boxer but Roman, promoted in Mexico by the influential Fernando Beltran, has got his career moving forward again and he is fighting with gusto. I think Roman will be a little too strong for Rosado, and I am expecting the Mexican fighter to overcome early resistance and grind out a stoppage win in eight or nine rounds.