Gabriel Rosado will be in 'fight mode' when IBF world middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin faces WBA champion Ryota Murata on Saturday live on DAZN.
Rosado is in action against Shane Mosley Jr on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs. Emmanuel Tagoe, this however hasn't stopped the 42-fight veteran from having a say on his former dance partner's upcoming unification bout.
Rosado was knocked out by Golovkin when the pair went head-to-head in 2013, but while some fans are concerned about whether GGG can replicate the fighting style which made him one of boxing's biggest stars, Rosado was encouraged by what he saw in Golovkin's win over Kamil Szeremeta in December 2020.
"I actually thought GGG looked good against Szeremeta, I like what I saw in that fight," Rosado told The DAZN Boxing Show.
"GGG was using that jab like a shotgun, he was dipping, he was moving, he was throwing punches in bunches.
"You’ve got to remember he’s 40 now so you can’t expect him to fight the same way when he was in his prime."
While Golovkin may not be producing brutal knockouts on a frequent basis as of late, Rosado believes the slight changes to the Kazakh's style can make him even more dangerous.
"I think the version we saw when he fought Szeremeta could be a little more dangerous because when he was aggressive, he was there to get hit.
"In that Szeremeta fight he was actually slipping and rolling shots, you never saw GGG do that, a lot of the time he had his hands up and you could catch him.
"I think he could be a lot more dangerous right now because he’s more conscious about not getting hit."
There is a lot at stake for Golovkin ahead of his exploits in Japan.
Win, and he is set to face Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at 168lbs later this year in a trilogy fight, as long as the Mexican gets past Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
The first two fights between the two ended in a controversial draw and then a Canelo win, and in the eyes of Rosado, Golovkin's performance against Murata will be a clear indication as to whether he can get the much desired win over Canelo.
"It’s going to be interesting because I think with the head movement and the jab, he knows Canelo," Rosado said.
"GGG is a smart fighter, so he’s going to make adjustments, so is Canelo. I think we’re going to see a little bit of the same from the first and second fight.
"If it’s a toe-to-toe matchup, I favour Canelo, but if this is a boxing match and GGG is establishing that jab, I favour GGG.
"Canelo is just the bigger guy right now, he’s a great body puncher, we’ll see how it plays out.
"It really comes down to how GGG is going to look against Murata."