He was The Ring Magazine's Prospect of the Year in 2013, one of the most-feared up-and-comers in the sport, until he walked into a monstrous uppercut in the opening round of his world title fight with Jermell Charlo.
Erickson Lubin has stopped two opponents since then, and is teeming with confidence about his chances of beating everybody else in the 154-pound weight division -- a cast of characters that includes Tony Harrison (who just took Charlo's belt), Jaime Munguia, Jarrett Hurd, Brian Castano, Julian Williams, and Kell Brook.
"The Hammer" recently put his career in the hands of Kevin Cunningham, best known training Adrien Broner, and for taking two other southpaws (Devon Alexander and Corey Spinks) to the top of the mountain.
Don't miss this in-depth interview with a 22-year-old force of nature who has a legitimate shot at becoming a superstar in the sport.
Before our conversation with Erickson Lubin, expert analysts Travis Hartman, Rizwaan Zahid and John J. Raspanti discuss the high stakes of Showtime's upcoming main event managing two of the best female fighters on the planet, Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer, who tangle Saturday night with four middleweight title belts on the line, the 30-day weigh-in where Daniel Jacobs showed up with washboard abs and 15.4 pounds still to lose for the Canelo showdown, Anthony Yarde's credentials (or lack thereof?) for facing Sergey Kovelev, and much more.
Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of "Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy," an Amazon bestseller.