The rough and tough fights broke Gabriel Rosado down, so much so that he walked away from boxing in 2023.

After suffering four consecutive losses and hanging up his gloves, the itch slowly began coming back. Once it was undeniable, he made his return.

Beating Crispulo Javier Andino via first-round stoppage at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California on August 2 placed a smile on Rosado’s face, but he wants much more.

In his next appearance, the onetime middleweight contender isn’t interested in facing another no-hoper. Instead, he wants to land a matchup with Edgar Berlanga.

If that fight did happen, Brooklyn’s Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) would have several things working in his favor. He is more than a decade younger, seemingly hits harder and is presumably smack dab in the middle of his prime. Even with those boxes checked on Berlanga’s side, Rosado has a feeling that a showdown between them would be incredibly one-sided.

“I feel like I can school him,” Rosado told Fight Hub TV recently. “I feel like I can really take him to school.”

The 28-year-old Berlanga is getting used to taking some brutal classes. After losing practically every second of every round against Canelo Alvarez in September 2023, he stopped Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz in the first round March 15 in Orlando, Florida.

Berlanga was bulldozed by Hamzah Sheeraz in his following fight – the main event of the “Ring III” pay-per-view show July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. England’s Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) dropped Berlanga twice in the fourth round and knocked him out early in the fifth round of their super middleweight match.

Rosado (27-17-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) has wanted to face Berlanga for years. Berlanga, though, has been dismissive of the Philadelphia native in the most bombastic way possible.

The sunglasses, funny quotes, loud press conferences, and flashy outfits – Rosado was once that way. Berlanga’s brashness doesn’t bother Rosado. He somewhat enjoys watching Berlanga’s act.

He still desperately wants that fight. Not for personal reasons, though. No, it’s deeper than that.

“There’s a lot of similarities that I do see in Berlanga of how I was going up,” Rosado continued. “It’s all love, it’s no beef. It’s about pride.”