As sweat trickled down Joe Frazier’s evaporating torso, respected trainer Eddie Futch made the reluctant decision to pull him out. “I want him, boss,” pleaded exhausted Joe “Smokin,” but Futch refused to do so and replied sternly, “It’s over.”
Frazier will never forgive him for this public act of compassion towards a fighter he has nurtured and loved since his early days at the Philly gym. Frazier wants to win or at least fall on his own terms. Even a potential Banzai chargeTotal defeat is better than obediently surrendering in his corner.
All of this may have happened in 1975 in a remote ring in the Philippines, what just happened to be one of the greatest fights between any fighter anywhere, but that’s a sentence. as old as boxing. Too many times we’ve seen corner soldiers go astray in preserving a dream, whose reluctance to intervene turns their warrior’s fate into a nightmare.
Perhaps Kevin Cunningham felt Eddie Futch’s cold hand on his shoulder as he made the decision to knock Erickson Lubin (24-2, 17KOs) out of the match. barn meat in battle with Sebastian Fundora back in April amid the flashing neon lights of Las Vegas. At a time when Lubin was narrowly leading, in their super-heavyweight bout, but with his terrifyingly swollen face and body harboring an unseen catalog of injuries, Cunningham had seen enough.
The next day, the internet posted photos of Lubin’s facial injuries, and the stats coldly recorded that he had received 255 punches from his tough opponent. Two-bit clicker websites have ‘before and after’ images of athletes with titles like ‘Worst injuries in boxing’ for new viewers who may have never heard of it before. talk about Lubin, Fundora, Cunningham, or even watch the game, to rub their hands with glee.
When Cunningham pulled the 26-year-old out late on the 9th, he unilaterally did so. There is no discussion. Don’t touch the ‘How are you feeling, son?’ ‘. The trainer would know the hopelessness of such a line of inquiry. Boxers because it is necessary to live a focused life, but a person is often tinged with dreamlike romanticism. It’s no coincidence that they often talk about life as if they were Greek philosophers or fortune-tellers at some fairground.
Their job is to continue regardless of personal costs. To follow your dream, do it, and wake up in the cool morning to do it all again. But the person in the corner should always be a pragmatist. In a sport of temper, hokum, lies and bullshit where the official regime’s blind Goddess of Liberty can’t always be trusted, they must be the last honest people in the world. defense, the last line of defense of their warriors against the understanding of their hearts.
And although Lubin was sure he had enough left to continue the fight, he did not carry the bitterness Frazier had over Cunningham. “I understand that there is a lot for Kevin to consider,” he revealed in a phone conversation with Social boxing.
“I think around the seventh round I swelled up really badly and when I went back to my corner my Cutman said he really couldn’t do much. He was like a little freaked out about how swollen I was. I pretty much enter the corner and leave the corner the same way. There was nothing more he could do. “
But this is not the limit of Lubin’s injury. “You know, my shoulder was out?” he confided. “I had to play in the ninth round because it felt really bad, so I struggled a lot.” This proved to be the last straw for Cunningham to remove his responsibility from the fight.
“Yeah, I think he’s seen enough,” agreed Lubin. “And I understand why he didn’t tell me. There’s all the chatter in the corner, and he’s been told by Cutman that there’s not much he can do to reduce the swelling. I completely understand it.
“But, yes, I had the energy to keep going. Anyway, it was a great fight. We gave the fans what they wanted,” he said positively.
For the man nicknamed ‘The Hammer’, it marks the second setback in a professional career that began just a month after his 18th birthday in 2013. In his home state of Florida. Then, the son of Haitian parents sent the unfortunate Eric De Jesus. only 35 seconds of the opening round.
Brutal, early finishes became the hallmarks of hardcore boxer Lubin’s ascent as he went on an 18-fight unbeaten streak over four years before challenging Jermell Charlo for the WBC title at 154 lbs. It ended badly, with Charlo hiding child prodigy with a perfect right arm in the first round.
It’s the kind of public execution that some boxers may struggle to recover from, but Lubin categorizes it as simply “a hiccup”. He thought that maybe the fight happened too soon. “At the time, I felt I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. I had a real short camp. These days I work 8-10 weeks, but that camp is horrible; less than five weeks.
“It felt like an opportunity just popped up and I felt like I had to jump on it. But I make no excuses. Charlo is a great fighter. It was just a bit of a failure. “
But for a boxer who had previously made it through to the group stage and won 143 of 150 amateur competitions and was certain to make it to the Olympics, defeat was something he had little experience with. In the past, the other guy always struggled to locate his pads and get help with his angle. But the first real taste of this very public, obvious failure led to a change in Lubin’s approach.
“Leaving the arena, I felt sad. I’m just not used to losing. But I knew I had the talent and the will to return to that position again. I just had to do everything right out of the ring. I had to change things up,” he admitted.
“I need to have the right focus. I used to be at home in Orlando, and I was around people who didn’t really benefit me. I moved to Miami, met Kevin Cunningham and the rest is history.”
This change in approach had immediate benefits with six straight wins over the top-rated opposition before he faced Fundora. For Lubin, it was a fight he believed he could win against his almost monstrous and undefeated opponent. “I am confident that I will attend. I know the match plan he’s going to go with,” he said.
But as mentioned earlier, the injury quickly affected the 26-year-old’s pre-match tactics. “It forced me to make a few changes in it. I had to switch my game plan. Kevin has told me to do certain things: box him more. It definitely worked but my shoulder was blown off.
“Once I had my shoulder split, I had to mostly fight Fundora because if I was outside trying to throw a stab in my shoulder it would hurt me a lot. But when I throw a hook, it doesn’t hurt much, so that must have been the plan. ”
It may not prove to be a winning tactic in the end, but its nature calls for a close-quarter fight of a two-knock contest, including Lubin taking down an opponent 6” 5. at the end of the seventh inning. But in the end, he was forced to leave the ring with his face swollen like an inflated seaball and his lips dyed a crimson color. It was a night that began with great anticipation but was destined to end with an emergency visit to the hospital.
More than two months on from this seismic encounter, Lubin is still recovering from his injury. Unable to go to the gym, he is content with his daily run on his treadmill and thinks about the much-anticipated rematch. “Yes, I definitely want it,” he replied when Boxing Social asked if he wanted to do it all again. “He is one of the top players in the league. It will be a great fight for the fans. “
Fearless in the face of defeat, Lubin was invigorated by what he and the public were watching, seen as a warrior-like performance in defeat. With or without a rematch with his longtime nemesis The Hammer’ is aiming for a world title fight later this year.
“I don’t want no adjustments,” he said emphatically. “I’m still figuring out how to fight the top guys. You have to beat the best, so who’s next doesn’t really matter to me. I’m not one of those guys who will fool people or look for an easy path.
“You know, Fundora he is avoided by most people. I think me fighting him just shows what my heart is. I only care about fighting the best. That’s what I’m about. I’m hungry. I want to fight the best and win titles across the leagues.
“That’s what I’m working on. That’s why I’m so motivated.”
