Jesus Ramos impressed Erickson Lubin by beating Joey Spencer so thoroughly in his last fight.
Lubin believes that he’ll be a considerable step up in class for Ramos, however, when they meet September 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The left-handed Lubin has faced a much higher level of opposition than any of Ramos’ first 20 professional opponents, including undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo, and is confident that he is the more proven contender entering their 12-round junior middleweight match on the Showtime Pay-Per-View portion of the Canelo Alvarez-Charlo undercard.
“This is far more of a challenge for him than Joey Spencer,” Lubin told BoxingScene.com. “This is his biggest test. … He has a better record, being undefeated, but I have a better resume. I fought former Olympians, former champions, top contenders, and I beat those guys. So, I feel like this is his first real test.”
Lubin lost by first-round knockout to Charlo almost six years ago and to Sebastian Fundora by technical knockout after nine action-packed rounds in April 2022. Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) and Fundora (20-1-1, 13 KOs) were undefeated when they beat Lubin.
Between Lubin’s two defeats, the Orlando, Florida native knocked out former IBF/IBO/WBA 154-pound champ Jeison Rosario in the sixth round and recorded convincing unanimous-decision victories over contenders Nathaniel Gallimore and Terrell Gausha. Lubin (25-2, 18 KOs) most recently stopped veteran Luis Arias (20-4-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) in the fifth round of their June 24 bout at The Armory in Minneapolis.
Ramos (20-0, 16 KOs) dropped Spencer (16-1, 10 KOs) in the first round and won their one-sided bout by seventh-round TKO March 25 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“He looked good in his last fight, he’s undefeated and, you know, they’re putting him as the A side for this fight, for whatever reason,” Lubin said. “But, you know, if we’re looking at the resume and who has fought the tougher competition – and not just who fought the tougher competition, it’s who beat the tougher competition – I feel like I’m definitely the A side if we had to really choose.”
Most sportsbooks nonetheless list Ramos as at least a 4-1 favorite to beat Lubin later this month.
The 22-year-old Ramos, a strong southpaw from Casa Grande, Arizona, was supposed to return to the ring July 29 on the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr. undercard, but he withdrew from his fight against Spain’s Sergio Garcia due to an injured left hand. Resting his hand and physical therapy enabled Ramos to return to the gym after a few weeks off and he quickly took this difficult fight with Lubin.
“I do respect that,” Lubin said of Ramos accepting another challenging assignment. “I respect him. It’s boxing, man. It’s either you got it or you don’t. You gotta show and prove, but you know, I feel like whoever’s handling him has been handling him well and now they’re throwing him into the fire.
“You know, I was 22 years old when I fought Charlo [in October 2017]. Charlo was 27 years old. Now he’s 22 years old and I’m 27 years old, so the tables turned. And you know what they say – history repeats itself, but this time in my favor.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.