Jeison Rosario trusts that his promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, will make the right fight for him next.
Rosario hopes, however, that he’ll face Jermell Charlo in his first fight following the COVID-19 pandemic. Rosario wants nothing more than to prove that his upset of Julian Williams wasn’t anything resembling a fluke.
Facing Charlo would provide Rosario with just that type of opportunity. That 154-pound title unification fight also would offer Rosario a chance to add the WBC super welterweight title to the IBF, IBO and WBA belts he won when the 25-year-old Dominican stopped Williams in the fifth round January 18 in Philadelphia, Williams’ hometown.
“I will do what my promoter, Sampson, says,” Rosario told Premier Boxing Champions’ Ray Flores during a recent Instagram Live interview. “I know that he is having a few conversations in regards to my career. He’s going to let me know what is going to be happening. He’s going to inform me about what the next steps are. But I’m familiar with Jermell Charlo. Look, Jermell Charlo wants my titles and I want his title and I wanna be able to unify the [154-pound] division.”
Houston’s Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) said recently during an appearance on “The PBC Podcast” that he, too, would welcome a showdown with Rosario next.
“My objective, if I had my choice [who to fight next], is Jermell Charlo,” Rosario said. “He is the best in the division, and I wanna go ahead and prove that I am truly the best at 154. … Right now, the only thing on my mind is Jermell Charlo. And that is a major motivating factor for me, knowing that that [fight] is potentially in front of me.”
Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) was listed as at least a 30-1 favorite to beat the largely unknown Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs) when they squared off in a fight FOX aired as a main event from Temple University’s Liacouras Center.
Their scheduled 12-rounder was competitive until Rosario wobbled Williams with a left hook early in the fifth round. Then Rosario rocked Williams with a right uppercut and a left hook that knocked Williams into the ropes and made referee Benjy Esteves stop their fight, with Williams still on his feet.
“It didn’t surprise me that he came forward and he was trying to be aggressive,” Rosario informed Flores. “I know that Julian Williams was very confident heading into that fight against me. But no, it did not surprise me whatsoever that Julian Williams was aggressive and walking forward, towards me. But I was prepared for it.”
–boxingscene.com
