HBO boxing starts off the new year with a bang — three world title fights in one night of action at the mecca of boxing Madison Square Garden in New York City. HBO Boxing After Dark will broadcast a triple header card featuring a world champion featherweight main event, a world championship middleweight bout and a world championship super-featherweight bout on the undercard.
The main event of the evening is a WBO featherweight championship bout between Mexico’s Orlando Salido the current champion and Mexican American Mikey Garcia who is trained by his brother acclaimed trainer Robert Garcia. Salido (39-11-2, 27 KOs) is an exciting come forward pressure fighter who can punch and take a punch, he is best known for his two knockout defeats of Puerto Rican featherweight star Juan Manuel Lopez and at 32 years old has revived his career. Garcia (30-0, 26 KOs) is an undefeated 25-year-old boxer from Oxnard, California who is considered to be one of the best young up and coming fighters in the world, Salido will be his toughest test and it will be his first shot at a world title.
In the middleweight championship bout, WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin will defend his title against determined challenger Gabriel Rosado. The undefeated 30-year-old Kazakhstan born Golovkin (24-0, 21 KOs) is on the brink of super stardom, he is considered to be one of the breakout stars to look out for in 2013, but an ambitious 27-year-old Philly fighter named Gabriel Rosado is looking to make a name for himself by pulling off an upset and beating Golovkin on Saturday night. Rosado (21-5-0, 13 KOs) had several losses in his career but has no gotten back on track and more focused and determined than ever to become a champion with a string of stoppage victories he feels it’s his time and wants to prove to the world that he is one of the best in the division.
The opening bout will be a super-featherweight championship bout that could steal the show, exciting WBO champ Roman Martinez (26-1-1, 16 KOs) of Puerto Rico versus Mexican challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (30-1, 20 KOs), a fight that has the potential to be a fight of the year candidate.
Official HBO Boxing After Dark Triple-Header Card
Main Event – WBO Featherweight Championship: Orlando Salido (Champion) vs. Mikey Garcia
WBA/IBO Middleweight Championship: Gennady Golovkin (Champion) vs. Gabriel Rosado
WBO Super Featherweight Championship: Roman Martinez (Champion) vs. Juan Carlos Burgos
Watch HBO Boxing After Dark Triple-Header: Orlando Salido vs. Mikey Garcia, Gennady Golovkin vs. Gabriel Rosado, and Rocky Martinez vs. Juan Carlos Burgos LIVE! Saturday, January 19, 2012 at 9:45 ET/PT on HBO.
