Rosales looks to KO Gonzalez
"Kill the body and the head. will die."
Unbeaten Cebuano prospect Jessie Cris Rosales will follow that old boxing adage when he takes on veteran two-division world champion Jhonny Gonzalez today at the Lienzo Charro Parral in Chihuahua, Mexico in what is the biggest fight of his career thus far.
"In YouTube videos of his losses, especially the fight with (Gerry) Peñalosa, it showed that his body is weak. That's where he went down," the 25-year- old Rosales told SunStar Cebu. "I will throw body shots. Gerry Peñalosa advised me to throw punches at will because Gonzalez can't take a lot of pain."
Peñalosa fought Gonzalez back in 2007 for the latter's World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight belt. Trailing on the scorecards, Peñalosa threw a wicked counter left to the ribs of Gonzalez that knocked him out in the seventh round.
Rosales believes that he can repeat Peñalosa's feat.
"I'll do my best. I'm a body puncher. If there's a chance of a knockout then I won't let this fight go any longer," he said.
Gonzalez has already been stopped four times in his career against some elite names - Peñalosa, Israel Vazquez, Toshiaki Nishioka and Gary Russell Jr.
This is Rosales' first time fighting in Mexico, and just his second international bout.
"He's no pushover and we are also fighting in his hometown. I feel a bit nervous but that's just normal to boxers," he said.
Rosales had a good training camp at the Omega Boxing Gym. He believes he is in the best shape of his career.
Rosales and Gonzalez both tipped the scales at 126.5 pounds for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Latino super featherweight title fight.
The 25-year-old Rosales is 21-0-1 with nine knockouts, while Gonzalez is 63-10 with 53 knockouts.
Rosales is coming off a second round knockout of veteran Jerry Nardo, while the 35-year-old Gonzalez, ranked fifth in the WBC, knocked out Francisco Contreras to log his fifth straight victory.