Notebook: Lubin, Rosario meet with shot at junior middleweight title at stake

Crawford return in works; new foe for Colbert; more

Erickson Lubin has had one previous shot at a junior middleweight world title that ended in a disastrous first-round knockout loss to Jermell Charlo in 2017.

Jeison Rosario won a unified 154-pound title by knocking out Julian “J-Rock” Williams to claim two belts by fifth-round knockout in January 2020 but then lost them in his first defense by eighth-round knockout to Charlo in September.

Lubin and Rosario both want another title shot and will have to go through each other to earn it. They will meet in a WBC title elimination bout in the co-feature of the Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios fight on Saturday (Showtime PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

The Lubin-Rosario winner will be in position to challenge the winner of the fight between Charlo and Brian Castano, who square off for the undisputed title on July 17 in a Showtime main event in San Antonio.

“This is going to be a fan-friendly fight. I can mix it up, box or bang,” Lubin said. “Rosario always comes forward. The fans are going to love it. I’m not the fighter who tries to find an easy way out. I’m looking to make a statement. I think this is the wrong fight for Rosario to take coming off a knockout loss.”

Since the loss to Charlo, Lubin (23-1, 16 KOs), 25, a southpaw from Orlando, Florida, and the 2016 prospect of the year, changed trainers to Kevin Cunningham and has won five fights in a row, including wins against Terrell Gausha and Nathaniel Gallimore in his previous two bouts.

“I gained a lot of experience fighting Nathaniel Gallimore and Terrell Gausha,” Lubin said. “Those are top contenders. I don’t want any tune-up fights. That’s why I took this fight against Rosario. I gained a lot of confidence and everything is clicking for me right now. When I become world champion, I want to be able to say that I’ve beat all the top guys in the division. That’s just how I am. I’m a competitor.”

While Lubin eased his way back with one soft-touch bout against Silverio Ortiz following the knockout loss, Rosario (20-2-1, 14 KOs), 26, of the Dominican Republic, is jumping back into the deep end against Lubin and doing so with a new trainer in Herman Caicedo.

“The Jermell Charlo fight is the past,” Rosario said. “That’s over with. This is a new camp and I feel very strong. We’re moving forward.

“What happened in the Charlo fight was the fluke. Me winning the titles was not the fluke. I’m going to show everybody that I will bounce back from that loss and win my next fight. I have no problem taking this fight. It’s not a mistake at all. This is what we do. We fight. I actually watched the Charlo fight for the first time (recently). Obviously, I learned from my mistake and worked to correct it in this camp. I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve learned from that defeat.”

Rosario claimed that he did not make a trainer change just because he lost his last fight.

“I changed trainers just because I was looking for a change,” Rosario said. “Not necessarily because I lost, but because it was just the right timing. Unfortunately, it came with a loss, but that was not the reason for the change. We’ve known each other for some time. I know Herman Caicedo’s style. It’s no nonsense. No excuses. It’s all or nothing and that’s what I wanted moving forward.”

Crawford return in works

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told Fight Freaks Unite that he is planning for WBO welterweight world titlist Terence Crawford’s ring return to take place on Oct. 23 in the main event of an ESPN card.

“We’re working on a date of Oct. 23 for Crawford and hopefully we’ll have an opponent shortly,” Arum said.

Arum said the company was working on a specific opponent but he did not want to divulge the name “because if I mention it, it will cost me another half million dollars (in the negotiation).”

Arum said the leading locations for the fight to take place are New York’s Madison Square Garden or Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, places where he has fought often and drawn crowds.

The 33-year-old Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) has not fought since knocking out former welterweight titlist Kell Brook in the fourth round of his fourth title defense this past November.

He has been shut out of facing any of the top welterweights or other titleholders because they are all with Premier Boxing Champions and fighting each other.

Crawford’s contract with Top Rank is set to expire this fall, so the October fight could be his last with the company unless they make a new deal.

Injuries mean new fight, foe

Premier Boxing Champions and Showtime, faced with injuries to two fighters on upcoming cards, have secured one replacement opponent but made a new fight in place of the other.

With former unified junior middleweight world titlist Julian “J-Rock” Williams (27-2-1, 16 KOs) suffering an elbow injury and dropping out of a 10-round bout with Brian Mendoza due to be on the Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios Showtime PPV undercard on Saturday (9 p.m. ET) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the fight was canceled when a new opponent for Mendoza (19-1, 13 KOs) could not be found.

Instead, Showtime and PBC announced a new fight that will be on the pay-per-view: a 10-round junior middleweight bout between Carlos Adames (19-1, 15 KOs), 27, of the Dominican Republic, and Alexis Salazar (23-3, 9 KOs), 25, a Mexico native fighting out of Norwalk, California.

Adames suffered his lone loss two fights ago when he dropped a close unanimous decision to Patrick Teixeira for the vacant WBO interim junior middleweight belt. Top Rank released Adames soon after and he returned for a victory in the Dominican Republic in March. Salazar has won 15 fights in a row but will be taking a big step up in opposition when he faces Adames.

Former unified featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-4, 18 KOs) was due to challenge interim junior lightweight titlist Chris Colbert (15-0, 6 KOs), 24, of Brooklyn, New York, in the Showtime main event on July 3 (9 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. But Gamboa suffered a soft tissue injury around his clavicle during a recent sparring session and on Monday was replaced by Tugstsogt “King Tug” Nyambayar (12-1, 9 KOs), 28, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist for Mongolia, who fights out of Los Angeles.

“This is just another day, another dollar,” Colbert said. “I have a job to do, and that’s to get the win by any means necessary, but I’m looking to dominate. I expect Nyambayar to bring his ‘A’ game though because he knows he’ll be in there with a monster. I may not be the biggest puncher in the world, but I know how to finish a guy and get him out of there, and on July 3 that’s exactly what I’ll be looking to do.”

Nyambayar, a far fresher opponent than Gamboa, said he did not hesitate when offered the fight on short notice.

“When I got the call about this fight, I jumped at the opportunity,” Nyambayar said. “I can’t wait to compete. I was born for fights like this. I’m going to leave it all in the ring and give the fans a great show.”

Nyambayar’s lone loss came by decision challenging WBC featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr. in February 2020. Nyambayar has won his only fight since, a 12-round split decision over Cobia Breedy in September.

Showtime also announced that Miami-based Dominican Republic native Michel Rivera (20-0, 13 KOs), 23, and Jon Fernandez (21-1, 18 KOs), 25, of Spain, will meet in a WBA lightweight title eliminator in the co-feature on July 3 and that the telecast will include highlights of the 10-rounder between junior welterweights Richardson Hitchins (12-0, 5 KOs), 23, of Brooklyn, New York, and Darwin Price (17-1, 10 KOs), 31, of Houston.  

Quick hits

There is a “ShoBox: The New Generation” four-fight card in the works for July 23 at Heartland Event Center in Grand Island, Nebraska, to celebrate the Showtime series’ 20th anniversary. The first card took place July 21, 2001 at Bally’s in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The main event in the works for the anniversary show is a super middleweight bout between Isaiah Steen (15-0, 12 KOs), 24, of Cleveland, and Forth Worth, Texas, native Kalvin Henderson (14-0-1, 10 KOs), sources told Fight Freaks Unite.

---

Secondary cruiserweight titlist Ryad Merhy (29-1, 24 KOs), 28, of Belgium, is in need of a new challenger for his July 17 defense in Brussels. Merhy was due to face South African contender Kevin Lerena (26-1, 13 KOs), 29, but Lerena, who had been training in Namibia, suffered a hand injury and was forced to withdraw on Monday. Merhy’s team is looking for a new opponent.

Show and tell

After Oscar De La Hoya lost his welterweight title to Shane Mosley, it was inevitable that the Golden Boy would move up to junior middleweight and two fights later he did just that, challenging Javier Castillejo, the WBC and lineal champion, for the 154-pound crown. Castillejo was a very solid fighter from Spain but did not have the talent, speed or power of De La Hoya, who won handily by scores of 119-108 across the board to claim a world title in his fifth weight class.

On the HBO PPV undercard was a then-unknown Manny Pacquiao, who was fighting in the United States for the first time. He had taken a fight with IBF junior featherweight titlist Lehlo Ledwaba on short notice and shocked everyone by utterly destroying him in the sixth round to win a title in his second weight class on his way to a record eight. It was Pacquiao’s first fight with trainer Freddie Roach and the beginning of a historic run that would eventually see Pacquiao send De La Hoya into retirement years later. I was ringside at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to cover that card they appeared on together. It was on June 23, 2001 — 20 years ago on Wednesday. Here is one of two versions of the site poster (the other is in Spanish) in my collection.

Lubin photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Crawford photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank