Gaby Canizales vs. Diego Rosario

Gaby Canizales 116 lbs beat Diego Rosario 114 lbs by TKO at 2:08 in round 5 of 12

• Date: 1982-06-24
• Location: Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
• Referee: Vincent Rainone

"Gaby Canizales, 116, out of Laredo, destroyed Diego Rosario with a 5th round TKO at Resorts Superstar Theatre in Atlantic City. The unheralded Tex-Mex delivered a dynamic performance, taking the classy Rosario completely by surprise and annexing the USBA bantamweight belt in the process. It was obvious from the opening bell that Canizales had come to win. Rosario, 114, considered a fine prospect in his own right, made the fatal mistake of mixing it up. Toe-to-toe, Gaby was the boss. A whistling right to the gut disorganized Rosario in the 5th and Canizales wasted no time letting fly with a barrage of leather that culminated with a right uppercut that dropped Diego in a neutral corner. Hurt and dazed, Rosario beat the count, but it was only a matter of seconds before Canizales was on him again, raining punches on his unprotected head. Referee Vinnie Rainone jumped in at 2:08, just as another flurry knocked Rosario into the ropes." -Ring Magazine, September 1982 issue

• Canizales came in on two weeks' notice for the vacant championship opportunity, substituting for Johnny 'Dancing Machine' Carter, who relinquished his USBA title claiming he could no longer make the weight.

Post-fight comments

• "I just couldn't get the opportunity to fight name guys. I guess they didn't know me or they looked at my record. I wasn't upset about it, I knew sooner or later my chance would come." -Gaby Canizales

• "In one of the early rounds he hit me with a good shot. I got mad and wanted to show him that I could punch too. That was my mistake." -Diego Rosario

• "He might be good enough to fight Jeff Chandler. But I don't want to rush him." -Luis Mendoza, Canizales' manager