Cleveland junior middleweight Terrell Gausha, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, paid his dues in his native Buckeye state, fighting on the under cards of Ohio world champions Adrien Broner and Robert Easter, Jr. in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Come October 14 the unbeaten contender will step in the ring to face arguably the top world champion at 154-pounds – WBA champion Erislandy Lara.
Premier Boxing Champions and SHOWTIME Championship Boxing recently announced its World Championship Triple-Header scheduled to be held at Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center on October 14. The card features three of the world champions at junior middleweight – Jarrett Hurd, Jermell Charlo and Erislandy Lara in the main event.
Out of the night’s three challengers, Ohio’s Gausha (20-0, 9 KOs) possibly drew the most difficult task in terms of outfoxing Lara’s (24-2-2, 14 KOs) penchant to adhere to his highly selective rules of engagement, coupled with the fact that the southpaw Cuban possesses an exceptional set of boxing skills.
Gausha’s well-traveled, he’s a solid boxer with good size and a steady ring presence, and his 6-round unanimous decision victory, at middleweight, over Juan Carlos Rijos in 2014 stood out on a star-studded Adrien Broner card in Cincinnati, Ohio. At 160-pounds Gausha’s fight represented the heaviest weight class of the night, and his dominant performance didn’t go unnoticed on a night when Lucas Matthysse and Andre Berto entered the ring. Future world champions Rau’shee Warren and Robert Easter, Jr. also fought that night, but Gausha definitely looked like he had the same pedigree in his game.
Unfortunately, world titles have eluded Gausha a little longer than his Ohio counterparts, but he did appear on Easter, Jr.’s first title defense – a homecoming bout televised on Bounce TV – in Toledo back in February. He dominated a gritty Luis Hernandez on his way to a 10-round unanimous decision, but he unexpectedly had to overcome a knock down in round three after being caught by a jarring overhand right. A similarly slow start against Lara could prove to be problematic, as the champion could be looking to be more active on what should be a an explosive night of action with the division’s other champions in the building.
The challenger can’t begin to match résumés with the defending champion, but he has taken to social media the past couple of days to show his confidence, and to convince fans that he’s deserving of the opportunity. A day after announcing the big opportunity to his fans on August 30, Gausha boldly tweeted the following warning to caution fans about taking him too lightly:
People say oh this a tough fight right here and I feel y’all …but understand something. This a tough fight for my opponent 🥊
— Terrell Gausha (@TerrellGausha) September 1, 2017
We’ll see how things play out on fight night, but Gausha does hail from The ‘Land, and even if he finds himself in a 3-1 deficit after four rounds, recent history suggests he still might be able to find it deep within himself to become a king.
