Saturday night, October 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Erislandy Lara will receive top billing facing Terrell Gausha, while upstart Jarrett Hurd will battle savvy vet Austin Trout.
But for those of us in the know, the one tucked in the middle –Jermell Charlo V Erickson Lubin — is the “real fight” hardcore fans and media want to see. If styles make fights (and they do), then this one will make for a FOTY candidate because of the substance both men have to go along with it. This is the closest match-up 2017 will offer for an underground superfight, as it compares favorably to a mainstream one you’ve heard about: Gennady “GGG” Golovkin V Saul “Canelo” Golovkin.
Though that fight ended in a way that didn’t satisfy- the action inside of the ring did, even if it was somewhat less than was anticipated because of the hype. It won’t receive a fraction of that hype, but I believe Charlo V Lubin will produce the visual expectation of what we ‘thought’ GGG V Canelo would look like. Both desire the status of those two fighters, as they see themselves as unbeaten stars in need of a spectacular performance.
Charlo (29-0, 14KOs) V Lubin (18-0, 13KOs) is the type of fight I call an underground superfight. The type of fight that catapults a fighter to the big time as a result of an action fight victory. True superfights can turn out to be duds if one (or both combatants) decides to fight not to lose, but that rarely happens in fights of this kind. There’s simply too much of the future at stake.
There is also a super confident belief from each fighter that their rival is getting KO’d– in a way you can believe. If you won’t be in the building, consider these shots fired as public evidence of what you’re likely to witness on LIVE on SHOWTIME (10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT) this Saturday night.
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“Miguel Cotto is scared of me. He’s old. He don’t want to fight no young stud and neither did Floyd (Mayweather). Canelo straight ran away from the division because of me. I’m trying to figure this out, because I want the big names too. I’m fighting a prospect on October 14. He’s not even a contender. I really don’t even know how he got this fight, but I have to fight him so I can fight the No. 1 guys.”
–Jermell Charlo, WBC super welterweight champion, basically dismissing Erickson Lubin
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“He’s a paper champion. I keep telling people I was trying to get the Charles Hatley fight since I was 10-0. But here he is the WBC champion because of Hatley, someone I don’t feel is that good of a fighter. I was beating people his brother, a middleweight, was beating after I beat them. Errol Spence fought guys after I beat them too. So combine my amateur success and tell me how can I be a prospect? I’m ready to expose him as suspect. I’m definitely looking for the knockout so people know who ‘The Hammer’ is.”
–Erickson Lubin, formerly mentored by none other than “Iron” Mike Tyson, on how he plans to deal with “Iron-Man” Charlo
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NY Fights were at the media workouts on Wednesday at Gleasons Gym in Brooklyn and at the official weigh-in on Friday afternoon at Barclays. After that, I’ll have enough data to offer who I believe will win these fights and why.
In the meantime, special shout outs to Premier Boxing Champions fighters Erislandy Lara, Jermell and Jermall Charlo, Andre Berto and Abner Mares for their outstanding humanitarian efforts in the wake of natural disasters effecting Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean. It’s not often boxers are recognized for anything other than violence or misconduct, and I’m sure I speak for all of us here in saying thank you. You are appreciated!
