Notebook: Lubin faces 'career-defining moment' vs. Fundora in Showtime headliner
Andrade excited to fight in England; Shields-Marshall is next; TR finalizes Saturday's undercard; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Junior middleweight contender Erickson Lubin got a shot at world titlist Jermell Charlo in 2017 and got knocked out in the first round. It was a shocking result and the general consensus was that Lubin simply was not ready for that kind of step up in his career yet.
Since then, however, Lubin has won six fights in a row, including multiple eliminators, and scored notable victories in his previous two fights.
He outpointed 2012 U.S. Olympian and former title challenge Terrell Gausha in September 2020 and a notched a sixth-round knockout of former unified titlist Jeison Rosario this past June.
At 26 and with plenty of experience, Lubin appears primed and ready for a title shot but there is no path at the moment since Charlo holds three of the belts, Brian Castano holds the fourth and they are scheduled to meet in a rematch of their draw for the undisputed 154-pound championship on May 14.
So, Lubin will do the next best thing. He will square off with dangerous unbeaten contender Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora for the vacant WBC interim title in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions all-junior middleweight tripleheader on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. Ideally, the winner will land an eventual shot at the Charlo-Castano winner.
“This is the next step in my career to secure my shot at the title, so I took my training to the next level,” said Lubin, who is trained by Kevin Cunningham, at his recent media day. “I moved my whole camp to Las Vegas to avoid all distractions. This is a career-defining moment for me and a chance for me to rewrite history after my first world title fight.
“I want to be a world champion and to do that I must sacrifice some of my comforts. My trainer Kevin Cunningham has also made some major additions to my training regimen and the hard work will be on display when I step in the ring.”
Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs), 26, a southpaw from Orlando, Florida, will face the 6-foot-5 Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs), 24, of Coachella, California, who has not beaten the level of opponents Lubin has but has the kind of overwhelming size that is very rare for the division.
“I think he’s a very tough challenge for anybody in the division,” said Lubin, the 2016 prospect of the year. “He comes to fight and is always in tremendous shape. Fundora is tall and rangy but likes to fight in close quarters, which should make for a fan friendly and exciting fight.
“I have worked hard, taken on tough opponents, and climbed back to where I once was, and the WBC noticed what I did. By doing that, I am now able to take the next step to fulfill my dream when I started, which is becoming a world champion. Nothing in boxing is given to any fighter, and to become a world champion I must face one of the best emerging fighters in boxing. I’m ready.”
The other bouts on the telecast are former junior middleweight world titlist Tony Harrison (28-3-1, 21 KOs), 31, of Detroit, against Sergio Garcia (33-1, 14 KOs), 29, of Spain, and Kevin Salgado (14-0, 9 KOs), 24, of Mexico, versus Bryant Perrella (17-3-1, 14 KOs), 32, of Fort Myers, Florida, in the opener.
Andrade going on the road
WBO middleweight titlist Demetrius Andrade said he is looking forward to going overseas to fight for the second time as a professional when he challenges England’s Zach Parker for the vacant WBO interim super middleweight belt on May 21 at Pride Park Stadium in Derby, England.
“I can't wait to get over to England and I believe (Queensberry Promotions’) Frank Warren is going to do a great job getting the Derby fans and my fans as well into the stadium,” Andrade said via video conference from the United States during the kickoff news conference Warren and Parker hosted in England on Friday. “It will be a great fight. I can't wait to showcase my skills and talent and put on a great performance.
”I am excited to be coming over because I am a world champ who has traveled all over the world and been in the lion's den plenty of times. Who am I to say I am the best if I can't go to someone's backyard and give him an arse-whooping. That is just how it is. Anybody else who lost a purse bid might have pulled out and gone a different route, but that is not me and Zach is going to get the opportunity to have the biggest fight of his life.”
Andrade fought all over the world as an elite amateur. He won the 2007 world amateur championship and was a 2008 U.S. Olympian. He also has fought once professionally outside of the U.S., going to Jack Culcay’s home turf in Germany and winning a split decision in a 2017 junior middleweight world title fight.
Warren secured promotional rights to Andrade-Parker with a winning purse bid of $1,834,050, beating the offer of $1,750,000 made by Andrade promoter Matchroom Boxing. Andrade is entitled to 65 percent ($1,192,132.50) and Parker gets 35 percent ($641,917.50).
“It is a great opportunity for him, for me, and the best will move on and forward,” Andrade said. “This is the fight game so anyone I get in the ring with I am going to lay hands on and bash up. I look at Zach as a young kid trying to make a name for himself and he is going to bring his A-game and the best performance of his life against me. Hopefully, he brings out the best in me and we have a great performance.”
Parker (22-0, 16 KOs), 27, of England, will be taking an enormous step up in competition. Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs), 33, of Providence, Rhode Island, opted to go for the interim title fight with Parker rather than make a mandatory defense of his middleweight belt against Janibek Alimkhanuly, who will face Danny Dignum for the interim middleweight belt on May 21.
After Andrade faces Parker, he will have to decide whether to remain at super middleweight or return to middleweight and face the Alimkhanuly-Dignum winner.
Shields-Marshall hurdle cleared
Savannah Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs), 30, of England, retained the WBO women’s middleweight title for the third time with a wicked one-punch knockout of Femke Hermans (12-4, 5 KOs), 32, of Belgium, at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England, on Saturday in the main event of a Boxxer card on Sky Sports.
Marshall drilled former super middleweight titlist Hermans with a left hook to the head that dropped her hard, causing referee Howard Foster to immediately stop the fight with one second left in the third round.
The win was the final hurdle to the much-anticipated undisputed championship fight later this year against WBC/IBF/WBA champion Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs), 27, of Flint, Michigan, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, whose lone loss came to Marshall in an amateur bout.
Shields, who can become the undisputed middleweight champion for the second time, and Marshall are tentatively slated to fight on June 25 at a site to be determined in the United Kingdom, although there is a good chance to the fight will move into July if, as expected, the rematch between unified heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk and former titlist Anthony Joshua is rescheduled for June 25 as appears likely.
Mayer-Han undercard finalized
Top Rank on Monday outlined the remainder of the undercard for its card headlined by unified women’s junior lightweight titlist Mikaela Mayer defending against Jennifer Han on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m.) at The Hangar at the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.
Opening the main card will be Australian junior bantamweight Andrew Moloney taking on Gilberto Mendoza (19-11-3, 10 KOs), 32, of Modesto, California, in an eight-rounder just before the previously announced 10-round welterweight co-feature between Giovani Santillan and Jeonvanis Barraza.
Moloney (22-2, 14 KOs), 31, a former WBA secondary junior bantamweight titlist, went 0-2 with a no decision in title fights against Joshua Franco in 2020 but scored a win in his next fight by decision over Froilan Saludar in Australia in December.
“I’m grateful that my fight will be live on ESPN, and I will show everyone that I am a much better fighter than what they saw from me against Franco,” Moloney said. “I’m looking to make a statement in this fight and move closer to another world title.”
In a bout part of the ESPN+-only stream (7 p.m. ET), two-time bantamweight title challenger Jason Moloney (22-2, 18 KOs), Andrew’s twin brother, will face Mexico’s Francisco Pedroza (17-10-2, 10 KOs), 27, in a scheduled for eight- or 10-rounder.
In other fights on the streaming-only part of the card:
Junior featherweight Floyd “Cashflow” Diaz (3-0, 0 KOs), an 18-year-old from Las Vegas, will face Nebraska native Blake Quintana (4-1, 1 KO), 22, in a six-rounder.
Cincinnati featherweight Duke Ragan (4-0, 1 KO), 24, who claimed a silver medal at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, returns to the pro ranks against Mexico’s Diuhl Olguin (15-21-5, 10 KOs), 33, in a six-rounder.
Houston flyweight Virginia Fuchs, 34, a 2020 U.S. Olympian, makes her professional debut against Randee Lynn Morales (4-3, 2 KOs), 31, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a six-rounder.
Featherweight contender Luis Alberto Lopez (24-2, 13 KOs), 28, of Mexico, who is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Isaac Lowe in December in an IBF title eliminator to that made him the mandatory challenger for Josh Warrington, will face Raul Chirino (19-13, 12 KOs), 35, of Miami, in an eight-rounder.
Quick hits
Heavyweight Andrey Fedosov is out and Jerry Forrest is in as the opponent to face former two-time world title challenger Kubrat Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs), 40, of Bulgaria, in a 10-rounder that will serve as the co-feature on the Triller Fight Club card headlined by former unified light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev’s cruiserweight debut against Tervel Pulev on May 14 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. According to sources, Russia’s Fedosov (32-3, 26 KOs), 35, has visa issues and the decision was made to go with Forrest (26-4-2, 20 KOs), 34, of Newport News, Virginia, who, on paper, seems like a more formidable opponent. He is coming off back-to-back disputed draws to contenders Michael Hunter in December and Zhang Zhilei in February 2021.
Welterweight Rashidi Ellis (23-0, 14 KOs), 26, of Lynn, Massachusetts, announced that he has split with Golden Boy Promotions and now is with Premier Boxing Champions. “It’s official,” Ellis wrote on social media. “We are ready for big fights!” With PBC, he joins an organization with most of the best welterweights in the world, so he should not lack for quality fights. Ellis fought once in 2019, once in 2020 and not at all in 2021. His last fight was his most notable victory, a unanimous decision over then-unbeaten Alexis Roach in October 2020. More recently, he and Golden Boy have been in a dispute with the company saying he turned down offers to face unbeaten contender Vergil Ortiz Jr.
The WBO formally ordered junior bantamweight titlist Kazuto Ioka (28-2, 15 KOs), 33, of Japan, to next defend against mandatory and fellow four-division titleholder challenger Donnie Nietes (43-1-6, 23 KOs), 39, of the Philippines, in a letter sent to Ioka promoter Yosuke Kaneko of TLAROCK Entertainment and Nietes promoter Richard Schaefer of Probellum on Friday. They have 30 days to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. Minimum bid is $100,000. Either side can request an immediate purse bid if they do not want to negotiate. The fight would be a rematch of Nietes’ split decision victory to claim the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title in December 2018. Ioka and Nietes have both won world titles at strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight.
Two-time world title challenger Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz (26-4, 16 KOs), 27, of Puerto Rico, who parted ways with longtime promoter Top Rank, has signed with EntroBox and will return against an opponent to be determined in a featherweight fight on May 21 (Bally’s Sports Net) at the Caribe Royal Orlando resort in Orlando, Florida. Diaz has lost two fights in a row, a majority decision to former junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe in November and a 12th-round knockout to WBO featherweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete last April. In Diaz’ other world title fight, he lost a decision then-WBO junior lightweight titlist Masayuki Ito in 2018.
Show and tell
When Sugar Ray Leonard came out of a three-year retirement — and having fought just once in the previous five years — to challenge long-reigning middleweight champion and big favorite Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a showdown that had been talked about for years it was one of the biggest fights in boxing history. It was a true mega event that lived up to the hype as the all-time greats put on a fantastic show. In the end, Leonard won by split decision in a huge upset at the famed outdoor arena at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The mere mention of the fight to boxing fans probably will cause a debate over the scoring with many adamantly believing Hagler was robbed and just as many believing Leonard deserved the victory. I am in the Leonard camp on this one despite my great love for Hagler (and, to be fair, I am a huge Leonard fan also). I’ve watched the fight many, many times and always score it the same: 115-113 for Leonard. I have rounds 1-4 to Leonard (no question about it, Hagler gave them away), 5th to Hagler, 6th to Leonard, 7-9 to Hagler, 10th to Leonard (very close), 11th to Hagler and 12th to Leonard.
The legendary fight was on April 6, 1987 — 35 years ago on Wednesday. Here are Leonard and Hagler rookie cards (stickers), both from the loaded 1982 Panini Sport Superstars multi-sport set from Italy, in my collection
Lubin photo: Team Lubin/MJS Entertainment; Andrade-Parker photo: Queensberry Promotions; Marshall photo: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer
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Andrade vs Parker fight is a funny one, Andrade is rightly the favourite but Parker looks like he has genuine power, so Andrade will need to keep his chin well out of the way.