Erickson Lubin Reveals He Wasn’t Warned Before He Stopped Against Sebastain Fundora But Doesn’t Blame Kevin Cunningham
By: Hans Themistode
Erickson Lubin has pushed himself to the limit for his past training camp. The highly ranked young middleweight contender knows that to successfully knock Sebastian Fundora off his title track, he will be forced to reach heights few 154-pound athletes have achieved.
On April 9, at the Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lubin nearly won his bid to become interim world champion. That night, Lubin and Fundora waged a back-and-forth war that left many followers stunned.
After successfully unboxing her man the first time around, Fundora turned the tables on the second, releasing Lubin with a short cut above. From there, the two spent most of their time in the middle of the ring. With Lubin finding his second wind, the 26-year-old rocked Fundora uncanny high in season seven, sending him falling to the canvas for the first time in his career.
However, despite nearly stopping his senior, Fundora quelled Lubin’s momentum in the eighth round, before scoring an injury-time goal after the ninth round.
A look of skepticism crossed Lubin’s face as Kevin Cunningham, his head coach, stepped on his apron and waved to their competition.
While normally in those circumstances both the head coach and the fighter would discuss the possibility of throwing a towel at him, Lubin wasn’t allowed to be so polite. However, if the cunning and powerful nampaw is recruited, he believes he will have a plan B.
“No, we didn’t have that conversation,” Lubin told BoxingInsider.com in a recent interview. “I don’t blame him, he looked like he was looking for me but the warrior inside of me, I could have kept going. I could have ended that war. If I get a fair warning like ‘oh yeah, I want to stop the fight, I think you’re punching too much, or your face is messed up’ something like that, I will change my game plan. I’ll have to box or something. I have found it. ”
Worse still, in extra time, Lubin had gathered enough energy in the second half of their session to take the lead on the judges’ scorecards. While judge Tim Cheatham even had a score of 85-85, both Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld gave Lubin a slight edge, with a score of 85-84.
With rounds 10, 11, and 12 considered the “champion rounds,” Lubin grew even more during the entire challenge. While Fundora seems to be gaining momentum, Lubin insists he is more than capable of just doing enough to win.
“Yea, sure, sure,” Lubin said when asked if he could muster enough energy to win. “Those are championship rounds. Those are the rounds you talk about in the gym every day. When it comes to the time of crisis, when it comes to tiresome rotations, when you have to grit your teeth and endure. I am for it, I am all for it. I think I will definitely break down and make a decision. Maybe even a knockout.”
Although he believes he has been handed a rough deal, Lubin refuses to play the blame game. Immediately after the second loss of his career, Lubin was immediately taken to the hospital due to a severe swelling that was developing everywhere. Although Lubin remains adamant he wants Cunningham to contact him before the game is stopped, the Florida-born player believes this road bump could turn out to be a turning point in his career.
“Like I said, I don’t blame Kevin. He will do whatever he feels is best for me. I don’t think this will pull us further apart. I think this will really bring us closer together. Me and my whole team”.
