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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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Published

2 days ago

December 21, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh

Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.

The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.

Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.

The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.

An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.

Moses Itauma

Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.

His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.

Photo (c): Mark Robinson

Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10^th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.

Bohachuk-Davis

In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.

Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.

Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.

Fisher-Allen

In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.

Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.

In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.

He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.

Other Bouts of Note

In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.

A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.

In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.

McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.

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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Fury-Usyk-Reignated-Can-the-Gypsy-King-Avenge-His-Londe-Defeat?

Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?

In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.

The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.

Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.

The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.

That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.

The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)

Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)

Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.

Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).

Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.

The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.

Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.

Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.

We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”

The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

Published

4 days ago

December 19, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year

The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.

Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.

Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.

Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.

There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.

It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.

Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.

At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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