LAS VEGAS — In a battle of two middleweights looking to get back in the win column, Gabriel Rosado scored a sixth-round TKO against the shopworn Glen Tapia. The showdown was the main event of Golden Boy on ESPN card that was televised from The Park Theater at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino.

Rosado — who was coming off of consecutive losses to Willie Monroe Jr. and Martin Murray — got off to a fast start and rocked Tapia with a right hand near the end of the first round and had his opponent in trouble again in the second frame. But Tapia — who had lost three in a row heading into this fight — held his ground and fought his way back into the fight in the third round

Clearly, neither fought with the expectation that the judges would be involved in the decision as they loaded up power shots in an effort to get a definitive finish. But Rosado (24-11, 14 knockouts) was the one who imposed his will by timing a counter right hand perfectly throughout the fight that eventually broke Tapia (23-5) down. The punishment began to show with a massive hematoma forming on the left side of Tapia’s forehead, but Tapia wouldn’t quit despite the number of clean shots Rosado landed.

Rosado didn’t concern himself with what Tapia threw back and went in for the kill in the sixth round. Although Tapia tried to fight his way out of it, Rosado’s right hand was simply too much.

But it would be left hook from Rosado that was the beginning of the end as it landed cleanly and put Tapia on shaky legs. A barrage of punches followed by a left uppercut sent Tapia to the canvas. Although he would rise, there was nothing left in the tank as Rosado clobbered his opponent with another bevy of power punches until referee Robert Byrd stepped in to call a halt to the fight at the 1:15.

With his fourth consecutive loss for the once promising prospect out of New Jersey, it may be time for Tapia to consider other options. In the meantime, Rosado will live to fight another day and be a handful for whoever they put in front of him next.

Photo by Derrick Hogan / Hoganphotos

Gibson outpoints Barrera

In an entertaining co-feature welterweight scrap, KeAndre Gibson scored a majority decision over the game Alejandro Barrera.

Gibson (18-1-1) got off to a seemingly slow start but after a rough third round that saw him eat a lot of punishment, the Dewey Cooper-trained boxer ramped up his offense and took over the role of dishing out punishment.

Barrera, to his credit, managed to stay upright despite absorbing some scintillating power shots from Gibson. But Barrera (27-4) refused to back down and kept coming no matter how many straight rights and left hooks Gibson landed. In the end, one judge inexplicably saw it 95-95 but was overruled by two scores in favor of 97-93 and 98-92 for Gibson.