The reverence between Jr. Middleweight contenders Terrell Gausha (21-2-1, 10 KOs) and Erickson Lubin (23-1, 16 KOs) may have been a bit too high tonight.
Both men met in the main event spot at the Mohegan Sun Casino, in Uncasville, Connecticut. And unlike their hostile press conferences in which they lobbied verbal threat after verbal threat, neither man seemed willing to act on any of those pre-fight promises.
At least not in the beginning.
Gausha, 33, came out lethargic in the opening rounds. He seldom stringed any combinations together, opting for a slow and meaningless jab. Lubin on the hand, came out slightly more aggressive. His jab and body work scored early for him while his defense made it difficult for his man to find the target.
As the time began to go by, every round began to look the same. Gausha was noncommittal to his power shots, while Lubin on the hand, threw just enough to bag the passing rounds.
With things beginning to get lopsided, trainer Manny Robles screamed for more action from Gausha and in the seventh round, he finally listened. The Ohio native began connecting with shots upstairs as he began letting his hands go. Lubin, of course, answered right back, but the momentum was in Gausha’s corner.
Just when things were going his way, Gausha had his best round of the night in the 10th. A right hand stumbled Lubin halfway across the ring. He quickly flashed a smile as if to say he was fine, but he clearly wasn’t as Gausha poured the pressure on him.
Unfortunately for him however, there wasn’t enough time on the clock to truly take advantage of the damage he just dished out.
Going into the 11th and 12th rounds, Lubin still seemed to be a bit off. No longer was he moving out of the way of Gausha’s big punches. Instead, he stood right in front of his man as they traded shots in the middle of the ring.
In what needed to be a clear round for the man out of Ohio, turned out to be the opposite. Lubin landed a hard right hand which forced his man into retreat mode for the remainder of their contest.
Gausha’s reprieve came with the sound of the final bell as he managed to stay upright.
He may have had his moments, but it was far and few between as Lubin ran away with the contest with the final scores of: 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110.
Final Grade For Erickson Lubin: A
Everyone knows how special Lubin is a boxer. So that was neither surprising nor impressive. What was eye catching about his performance was his ability to bite down on his mouthpiece after getting clearly rocked.
The site of Lubin sprawled on the floor from a Jermell Charlo left hand won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Murmurs of glass chin became attached to his name.
So to watch him take a few big shots and not get completely rattled show’s just how far he’s come.
