Erickson Lubin and Terrell Gausha looked listless until late drama

Junior middleweights Erickson Lubin and Terrell Gausha started slowly in their contest, but things heated up late to provide moderate drama. 

When Erickson Lubin and Terrell Gausha fought on Sept. 19, a spot as the mandatory challenger for the WBC junior middleweight title was on the line. They didn’t act with much intensity for the first half of the fight.

Lubin (23-1, 16 KOs) had a shot at the WBC belt in 2017, but he was shockingly knocked out in the first round by Jermell Charlo. Since then, he strung together four consecutive wins headed into his bout with the former Olympian Gausha.

Gausha (21-2-1, 10 KOs) also had a lone loss on his record, but at 33 years old, the clock was ticking if he ever wanted to become a world champion.

Both boxers were cautious in round 1. Lubin was slightly more aggressive and did a better job of landing his jab. Lubin’s hand speed advantage showed. Gausha looked for openings but couldn’t find any.

Lubin scored early in round 2 with a straight left hand. Gausha was in retreat mode as Lubin pressed the action. Gausha tried to connect with his jab, but Lubin made him miss repeatedly. Lubin’s left hand out of the southpaw stance started to find a home.

Lubin won round 3 with activity. Gausha looked frozen and couldn’t let his hands go. The punches he did throw were out of range and meant merely as distractions, but he never offered up a genuine attack.

Erickson Lubin vs. Terrell Gausha crept by slowly until some drama unfolded late in the fight.

Lubin easily controlled most of the following rounds, although Gausha picked up the pace ever so slightly in round 6. By round 7, Gausha took more chances as he winged power punches.

In round 10, Gausha finally came to life. He landed a right hook to the top of Lubin’s head that made his legs turn to jelly. Lubin stumbled back towards the ropes, and Gausha pressed for a knockout, but he ran out of time.

What was a pretty dull fight suddenly became interesting.

In round 11, Gausha came out with renewed vigor. Gausha threw combinations, and Lubin returned with several of his own. They traded punches, but it was another round for Gausha.

Unfortunately for Gausha, he couldn’t find the one punch to turn things around. Lubin hurt Gausha in the final round with a lead right hook. Lubin turned up his output, but the fight came to a close.

The judges returned a unanimous decision victory for Lubin. Both fighters were overly cautious for much of the fight until the last three rounds. They were fun to watch, but the same can’t be said for the previous nine, which crawled by slowly with anemic action.

During the post-fight interview, Lubin gave his prediction on next week’s junior middleweight title fight between Jermell Charlo and Jeison Rosario for three of the divisions four titles.

“I think Charlo is gonna come out on top on that,” said Lubin. “Lubin vs. Charlo two. That’s if he takes care of business like it did tonight.”

Lubin will be eagerly watching that fight as he may be a step closer to getting revenge over the only boxer to beat him.