Erickson Lubin has wanted a rematch with Sebastian Fundora for 14 months.
If Lubin beats Luis Arias on Saturday night, however, the returning junior middleweight contender would just as soon welcome a shot at the underdog who upset Fundora on April 8. Jermell Charlo is still recovering from his fractured left hand and must reschedule his fight against Tim Tszyu, the mandatory challenger for Charlo’s WBO 154-pound championship, which eliminates Mendoza’s preferred opponent for the foreseeable future.
With Charlo unavailable, Lubin believes he would be the perfect opponent for Mendoza’s first defense of the WBC interim super welterweight title he won when he viciously knocked out Fundora two months ago at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
“I’m looking forward to that fight,” Lubin told BoxingScene.com when asked about challenging Mendoza. “I feel like that’s one of the belts I should have, the WBC interim ’54 title. You know, I set my goals higher than that, but you know, with the Fundora loss – we were fighting for that belt. Fundora wound up winning, but I was winning on the cards. But, you know, I’m looking to win that title at 154, the interim title, and that’s gonna lead me to bigger fights, gonna lead me to bigger matchups.”
Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs) took the same approach to his unforgettable battle with a then-undefeated Fundora in April 2022 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The southpaw from Orlando, Florida floored Fundora during the seventh round, but an unfazed Fundora recovered, regained control of their “Fight of the Year” candidate and eventually won it by technical knockout.
Kevin Cunningham, Lubin’s trainer, stopped their slugfest following the ninth round because Lubin’s face was severely swollen and he was worried Lubin would’ve suffered permanent damage had their brutal brawl continued.
Lubin held a slight lead on two scorecards when their fantastic fight was stopped (85-84, 85-84, 85-85).
“I was just in a war, man,” Lubin said. “That’s all it was, just a war. It was a back-and-forth fight between me and Fundora. You know, those aren’t really the type of fights that I plan on. I usually plan on one-sided wins and one-sided beatdowns and whatever, but you know, it just turned out to be a back-and-forth fight and it ended up being ‘Fight of the Year.’ ”
Fortunately for Lubin, the damage from the Fundora fight was limited to a hairline fracture of his nose and a separated right shoulder.
“I’m ready to put that behind me,” Lubin said, “not dwell on it too much and just, you know, move on, keep moving forward. I’ve got goals I wanna achieve in this sport and I’m still at it, and I will achieve ‘em.”
Mendoza, the interim champion Lubin wants to fight next, is proof that the most determined boxers can overcome difficult defeats to thrive at the highest level. Albuquerque’s Mendoza (22-2, 16 KOs) was behind big on all three scorecards – 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55 – when he flattened Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) with a brutal three-punch combination in the seventh round.
“I was surprised at the outcome,” Lubin said. “I mean, Fundora was winning the fight, in my opinion. But his defense, he lacks defense and Mendoza capitalized on it, put him out with a perfect shot.”
Showtime, which televised Mendoza’s dramatic knockout of Fundora, also will air the 10-round, 157-pound bout between Lubin and Arias (20-3-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night from The Armory in Minneapolis. Lubin-Arias is the co-feature of a three-bout broadcast that will feature the Dominican Republic’s Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) and Philadelphia’s Julian Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs, 1 NC) in the main event, a 12-round fight for Adames’ WBC interim middleweight title.
Showtime’s telecast is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. EDT with a 12-round, 115-pound bout in which Argentina’s Fernando Martinez (15-0, 8 KOs) will make a mandated defense of his IBF junior bantamweight title against the Philippines’ Jade Bornea (18-0, 12 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.