Erickson Lubin: Now a `Different Beast’ as a Result of the Charlo Smash-up

Published

6 years ago

February 7, 2019

The next step up from a swelling sense of confidence for a young, undefeated fighter is, well, overconfidence. Arrogance, even. When you are accustomed to nothing but success, why even entertain the possibility of a disappointing outcome? Being beaten up and losing is something that is only supposed to happen to the poor schnook in the other corner, right?

The first step down from utter confidence for a young, formerly undefeated fighter can be panic and self-doubt. The introduction of defeat into a first-time loser’s belief system is even harsher if it comes in the form of a knockout, and especially so if the shocking end comes before the completion of the very first round.

The journey from the way Erickson Lubin had viewed his life and boxing career to a decidedly harsher reality required only 2 minutes, 41 seconds when the 22-year-old southpaw from Orlando, Fla., took on WBC super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo on Oct. 14, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Actually, the decisive sequence was much more condensed than that; there were only 28 seconds remaining in the opening stanza when Charlo fired a short right that landed flush to Lubin’s forehead, sending the challenger crumpling to the canvas and onto his right side where he briefly flailed like a reeled-in fish on the bottom of a bass boat. Referee Harvey Dock started to initiate a count, but as he knelt over the stricken Lubin, who clearly was not about to rise in time, he waved his arms at six, signaling the bout’s conclusion.

Only nine seconds had elapsed from the moment Charlo connected with the shot that, at least momentarily, demonstrated what some had believed all along: that Erickson Lubin, the fight game’s most recent flavor of the month, was the false creation of a relentless hype machine.

But perhaps that instantly revised, less laudatory assessment of Lubin (19-1, 14 KOs) is no more accurate than the fawning praise and inflated expectations that had preceded it. The supposed wunderkind who had been at the center of a firestorm of controversy nearly six years ago is still around, still ranked No. 6 at super welterweight by the WBC, and eager to make the kind of statement with a dominant performance against former IBF 154-pound champion Ishe Smith (29-10, 12 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder Saturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park (formerly the StubHub Center) in Carson, Calif., that he once anticipated making against Charlo.

“I’ve had hardships in my life,” Lubin said, refuting the notion that he somehow and undeservedly had been fast-tracked for the boxing superstardom that has to date remained beyond his grasp. “I overcame them all. But that (Charlo) fight … I woke up a different beast. I had to re-assess. I decided it was time to take this sport to a whole different level.

“What happened to me was something that had never happened to me before. I’d never been stopped or even dropped. Well, maybe when I was six or seven, by my older brother, just teaching me. I guess I was on my high horse a little bit. I was immature. I admit it.”

Lubin didn’t exactly disappear after his comeuppance from Charlo, but it was his choice not to rush back into action until he had given himself enough of a break to undertake the necessary physical and mental makeovers. He has fought just once post-Charlo, a fourth-round stoppage of Mexican journeyman Silverio Ortiz on April 28 of last year in El Paso, Texas, and his matchup with the 40-year-old Smith, as intriguing as it might be on some level, still was not regarded as significant enough to be included among the three bouts to be televised on the Showtime Championship Boxing portion of the card, a lineup topped by the IBF junior lightweight defense by champion Gervonta Davis (20-0, 19 KOs) against former WBC super bantamweight titlist Hugo Ruiz (39-4, 33 KOs). Other TV fights include 10-rounders pitting super lightweights Mario Barrios (22-0, 14 KOs) and Richard Zamora (19-2, 12 KOs) and lightweights Sharif Bogere (32-1, 20 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (33-2-1, 23 KOs).

Lubin-Smith can still be seen, however, via Showtime’s social media platforms and Lubin is adamant that he still is capable of emerging as the star of the night.

“I feel like I’m really at my best now,” Lubin opined. “My skills have improved, my power’s improved, my ring IQ has improved. I went into the Charlo fight with not too much of a game plan. I just was looking for the knockout. I wanted to make a big statement. But I can make that kind of statement against Ishe Smith. I’m not predicting I’ll knock him out, but if I can knock out a guy who’s never been knocked out, that’d be a big statement, right? And I’m capable of it. Even if I don’t knock him out, I want to show the world how much talent I have, in case anyone has forgotten.”

Toward that end, Lubin has brought in veteran trainer Kevin Cunningham as his chief second, while retaining the services of his longtime trainer Jason Galarza as a cornerman. But it is Lubin’s rededicated approach to his craft that is the biggest change of all.

“I needed to get away from home a little bit and into a place where I’m not really too comfortable,” Lubin said of his shift, for boxing purposes, from Orlando to Miami. “With a no-tolerance trainer like Kevin, it’s not just a change in training, it’s a change in lifestyle. Boxing is a year-round sport. You always have to be ready, you always have to be in shape. Football players have seasons, basketball players have seasons. Fights don’t have seasons.

“I took the Charlo fight serious. I trained very hard with Jason. But I had let myself blow up (a weight gain of 40 pounds) and so I had to take all that off, which, looking back, might have taken something out of me. I also had a fracture in my lead (right) hand during training so I didn’t spar much until the last two weeks of camp. And I got to admit, I went into the Charlo fight with not too much of a game plan. If I could just go back in time, I’d have game-planned more and not let the hype get to me. There was a lot of talking back and forth between our entourages. All that was on my mind. I realize I was too focused on trying to knock him out. I should have taken my time, used that first round to feel him out. But I wanted to be right there up in his face instead of boxing him.”

It is a common error among those to whom things come too easily, to expect that corners can be cut and all the puzzle pieces will fit neatly into place because, well, hadn’t they always? So convinced was Dr. Charles Butler, then the president of USA Boxing, that Lubin was the United States’ best hope for a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics that he took out print ads urging Lubin, the son of Haitian immigrants, to remain an amateur until he had the chance to represent his country in Rio. Lubin instead opted to turn pro with the fledgling and now-defunct Mike Tyson Productions – he’s since signed on with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions — on the condition that he would be paired immediately against higher-quality opponents than are most newly minted pros. After blowing through his first 18 bouts with little trouble, Lubin figured he was as ready as he ever needed to be to add Charlo to his list of victims.

It now appears that was a miscalculation, but, at 24, Lubin figures he has ample time to make amends. He has a baby son, Malachai, to support and a sense of destiny that requires fulfillment. A step back is a step back only if you refuse to keep moving forward.

“I don’t regret anything, actually,” Lubin said of where he’s been, where he is and where he is bound. “I’m very competitive. I don’t like to lose, at anything. I got that Kobe Bryant `Black Mama’ mentality. If you want to see who can spit the farthest, I’m going to try to spit the farthest. That’s how I came up.”

Photo credit: Mario Serrano / Team Lubin

Bernard Fernandez is the retired boxing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. He is a five-term former president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, an inductee into the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Atlantic City Boxing Halls of Fame and the recipient of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.

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The Avila Perspective, Chap. 33: After the Storm Comes the Deluge of Fights

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Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw

Published

19 minutes ago

February 22, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Early-Results-from-Riyadh-where-Hamza-Sheeraz-was-Awarded-a-Gift-Draw

After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.

Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.

Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.

Ortiz-Madrimov

Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.

Kabayel-Zhang

No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.

It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.

That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.

Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.

Smith-Buatsi

The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.

There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.

This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).

Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.

Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom

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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez

Published

16 hours ago

February 21, 2025

David A. Avila

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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.

Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.

Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.

Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.

In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.

“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.

Other Bouts

Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.

Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.

Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.

Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.

A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.

It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.

In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.

Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.

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The Return of David Alaverdian

Published

21 hours ago

February 21, 2025

The Sweet Science

By TSS Special Correspondent David Harazduk — After David Alaverdian (8-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a gritty victory against a tough Nicaraguan journeyman named Enrique Irias, his plans suddenly changed. The flashy flyweight from Nahariya, Israel hoped to face even tougher opposition and then challenge for a world title within a year or so. But a prolonged illness forced David to rip up the script.

The Irias fight was over 22 months ago. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Alaverdian will be making his first appearance in the ring since that win when he faces veteran road warrior Josue “Zurdo” Morales (31-16-4, 13 KOs) at the Westgate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the fifth promotion by Las Vegas attorney Stephen Reid whose inaugural card was at this venue on Feb. 13, 2020.

“I’m excited to come back,” Alaverdian declared.

During his preparation for Irias two years ago, Alaverdian felt fatigue after a routine six-round sparring session. “It was on April 1, 2023, about ten days before my fight. It felt like an April Fool’s joke,” he said. He came down with a sore throat, a headache, and congestion. He soon developed trouble breathing. At first, he thought his seasonal asthma had flared up, but his condition soon worsened. No matter what he did, Alaverdian could no longer take deep breaths. Fatigue continued to plague him. His heart constantly raced. Instead of breathing from his diaphragm, he was breathing from his chest. He sought out numerous doctors in the United States and in Israel.

His symptoms were finally diagnosed as Dysfunctional Breathing (DB). DB is a condition that can stem from stress and is often misdiagnosed. Its symptoms include dyspnea and tachycardia, both of which David experienced.

While receiving treatment, the Vegas-based pro went back to Israel where he coached aspiring fighters. “David’s influence on Israeli boxing is amazing, because he shows we can succeed in a big business even though we come from a small country,” said another undefeated Israeli flyweight, 20-year-old Yonatan Landman (7-0, 7 KOs). “A lot more Israelis are going to dare to succeed.”

Landman was able to work with Alaverdian during David’s return to Israel. “He is a great guy and a friend,” Landman said. “He has a lot of willingness to help, share his knowledge, and help you move forward.”

Alaverdian finally started to feel like he could compete again eight months ago. He won last year’s Israeli national amateur championship and competed in Olympic qualifiers. Now, he’s preparing to fight as a professional once again. “He doesn’t mention anything about [his breathing issues] like he did before,” his coach Cedric Ferguson said about this camp. “He’s been working like there’s no issue at all.”

It has been a whirlwind week for the 31-year-old Alaverdian. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his preparation ahead of Saturday’s comeback fight, David got married on Tuesday. His mom came over from Israel for the wedding and will stay for the fight. “It’s a good distraction,” David said of this week’s significant events. “It helps me. That way I don’t have to focus on the fight all day.”

Josue Morales, a 32 year old from Houston, hopes to play spoiler on Saturday. The crafty southpaw has never been stopped during his 52-fight career. “He’s a seasoned guy with a lot of experience,” Alaverdian said of Morales. “He knows how to move around the ring and is more of a technical boxer. He’s a tough opponent for someone who has been out of the ring for two years.”

A win Saturday night would complete a monumental week for David Alaverdian, both in and out of the ring, repairing the once-shredded script.

Doors open at the Westgate fight arena at 6:30 pm. The first bout goes at 7:00. Seven fights are scheduled including an 8-round female fight between Las Vegas light flyweight Yadira Bustillos and Argentine veteran Tamara Demarco.

NOTE: Author David Harazduk has run The Jewish Boxing Blog since 2010. You can find him at Twitter/X @JewishBoxing and Instagram.

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