Jeison Rosario: I Don’t Have Any Problem Making 154 And Plan To Stay Here

Given his physical dimensions, Jeison Rosario is as close as they come in the sport today to a prototypical junior middleweight.

The reigning unified 154-pound titlist is in the same position as nearly everyone else in boxing, awaiting marching orders for his next ring appearance once the sport as a whole can resume at full strength. Whenever that day comes, there’s no question that it will take place at his current weight—even with the allure of far bigger paydays to be made one division north at middleweight.

“I don’t have any problem making 154 pounds. I am going to unify all of the titles at 154,” Rosario (20-1-1, 14KOs) insisted during a recent interview on Premier Boxing Champions’ (PBC) Time Out With Ray Flores series on Instagram Live. “After that, once I have all of the belts in my possession we can sit down with my team, with my promoter Sampson and decide whether to go to 160 or stay here at 154.”

Rosario is among a handful of top-ranked boxers to have fought so far in 2020, his one fight on the year having allowed him to rise to prominence. An upset 5th round stoppage of Julian ‘J-Rock’ Williams netted the 25-year old Dominican a handful of junior middleweight titles, coming this past January in Williams’ hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Any such progress has since been stalled by the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic which has shut down sporting events and mass gatherings around the world since mid-March. Efforts to return boxing back to venues and television screens has many fighters returning to training camp, with Rosario having done so on May 11.

Nothing yet is in store for the streaking junior middleweight, who is unbeaten in his last nine starts and hoping a shot at making it an even 10 will come in a unification bout. Rosario and fellow 154-pound titlist Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17KOs) both fighter under the PBC banner, with both eager to collide for their next outing.

“Right now, the only thing on my mind is Jermell Charlo,” admitted Rosario, who was conducting two-a-day workouts at home before returning to Miami last week to open training camp. “That is a major motivating factor to me.

“As of right now, I don’t have any problem making 154 and plan to stay here.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox