By Thomas Gerbasi

A Philly fighter in the best sense of the term, Gabriel Rosado is probably the last person you would pick to leave his hometown for the sunny skies of Los Angeles. But he did. Is that enough of an infraction to get your Philadelphia card revoked?

“No man, they can’t do that,” Rosado laughs, quick to assure the boxing world that he’s still the same guy he always was, just better.

“In Los Angeles I find myself to be more focused,” he said. “It’s a healthy lifestyle over here, it’s better living and things like that, so when it comes to training, I think I’m training at my best out here.”

Now working with veteran trainer Jesse Reid, Rosado’s move out west didn’t even have anything to do with boxing initially.

“I linked up with a couple people out here that were interested in me starting an acting and modeling career, so I got into the mix with that, and it ended up working out when I found a gym out here and hooked up with Jesse Reid.

“I think the only thing that’s really hard on me is being away from my daughter,” Rosado continues. “I’m always back and forth from Philly to Los Angeles to spend time with my family, but that’s probably the hardest thing, being away from them.”

In August, fans got their first look at the west coast version of Rosado when he fought Bryan Vera in the inaugural BKB event in Las Vegas. Originally thought to be a bare-knuckle competition (“They’ve gotta pay me something real stupid for me to do that,” Rosado laughs), the fights were instead waged with normal boxing gloves and rules, with the exception being two-minute rounds and no ropes. Rosado beat the always-tough Texan via sixth-round knockout.

“Even though it was a different style of fighting with no ropes, it was still boxing, and I knocked him out in five rounds,” Rosado said. “I did my training camp out there (in LA) and I felt great. I think it just added to my game out here and I don’t think it’s hurting me at all. I think it’s actually making me a better fighter now.”

What it also did was give a jolt to a career that needed it. 0-3 with 1 NC in his previous four bouts, Rosado needed to get back on track, and even though a controversial split decision loss to J’Leon Love was overturned to a no contest after Love failed a post-fight drug test and his 10th round stoppage defeat against Peter Quillin also raised some eyebrows, his losses to Gennady Golovkin and Jermell Charlo left no doubts when it came to who the better fighter was on those particular nights. Knocking out Vera got fans excited again though and prompted his insertion into the main event slot of this Saturday’s HBO Boxing After Dark card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn against David Lemieux.

“That fight (against Vera) was what opened the door for me to get this fight right now,” Rosado said. “It (the Vera fight) was getting mixed feelings, and people didn’t know how to feel about it yet, but once everyone saw the fight between me and Bryan Vera, they were excited about it and they were excited to see what I would do in the ring again, so I think that’s what opened the door for this David Lemieux fight.”

And though the hard-hitting Canadian is the favorite going in, there are plenty that believe Rosado’s ability to willingly wade into a dogfight will serve him well against an opponent who has lost two of his biggest fights to Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine.

“I feel that the times when he did step it up, he fell short,” Rosado said of Lemieux. “But I prepared myself for a tough fight. I’m in great shape, and I think this is the best training camp I’ve had in my career. My whole team, we worked good together, had great sparring, and I finished my last week of sparring with about a total of 40 rounds. So I’m not really focused on what Lemieux is bringing to the table. I feel like I’m gonna set the tone and he’s going to have to make adjustments to my style.”

More importantly, the 28-year-old Rosado is looking at this fight as a fresh start and one in which he can simply let his fists do the talking, with the best man being the one leaving with a victory.

“I think when people saw the J’Leon Love fight and the Peter Quillin fight, a lot of people felt that those were fights that were going my way, but I think this time around, I feel like I’m on even playing field,” he said. “In those two fights I felt like I was going against the house. Now, being that I’m back on HBO and on an even playing field, it allows me to fight my style of fighting. I don’t have to force the action or force the issue. When you’re trying too hard, you make mistakes and you don’t fight the best that you should. I don’t have that weight on my shoulders that I have to force something. I can fight my fight, fight a smart fight, and come out with a victory, whether it’s a knockout or decision.”

And if that Philly fighter needs to come out, Rosado is more than willing to play that card.

“You’re gonna see the same Philly warrior coming at him,” he said. “I’ll be happy with a decision, but I definitely want the knockout. I want to make a statement because I know this is the type of fight that’s gonna open the doors for a Canelo (Alvarez) fight, a (Miguel) Cotto fight, maybe a rematch with GGG (Golovkin). So I know the importance of getting a big win.”