By Ian S Palmer
Erickson Lubin of Orlando, Florida will be taking former IBF and WBA Junior Middleweight Champ Jeison Rosario of the Dominican Republic in Atlanta this Saturday, June 26th. The 12-round WBC title eliminator can be seen live on Showtime pay-per-view. Lubin last fought in September when he beat Terrell Gausha by a 12-round unanimous decision. Rosario lost his titles the last time out when he was stopped by WBC Champion Jermell Charlo in the eighth round after being dropped in the first and sixth rounds as well as the eighth.
The 25-year-old Lubin is a southpaw who has an impressive record of 23-1 with 16 Kos. The youngster has quite a bit of power in his speedy fists with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent and 10 stoppages in his last 15 bouts. Lubin stands just over 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 74.5-inch reach. He turned pro in November of 2013 and has 104 rounds under his belt since then.
Lubin’s stiffest test came in October of 2017 when he faced Jermell Charlo in a shot at the WBC Jr. Middleweight Title, but was stopped in the first round. Lubin has also beaten the likes of Ishe Smith, Alexis Camacho, Orlando Lora, Norberto Gonzalez, Daniel Sandoval, Ivan Montero, Juan Ubaldo Cabrera and Jorge Cota.
He’s a good-looking prospect with a lot of potential and is hoping to redeem himself in another world title shot. He had plenty of amateur experience and was also a national Golden Gloves champion as a welterweight in 2013. He also captured the WBC Fecarbox Super Welterweight Title in 2014. With his speed and power he should be able to give it a good shot against Rosario.
The 26-year-old Rosario took the IBF and WBA Jr. Middleweight Titles from Julian ‘ J Rock’ Williams during William’s first defence in January, 2020 when he stopped him in the fifth round but lost them to Charlo in his first defence. Rosario’s mark now stands at 20-2-1 with 14 Kos. His first pro defeat coming at the hands of Nathaniel Gallimore by way of sixth-round TKO in April of 2017.
His lone draw was a six-round affair with Mark Anthony Hernandez in February of 2018. Rosario turned pro in 2013 and has 99 rounds of experience under his belt. He’s also got pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 61 per cent. However, he’s been stopped in both of his losses so doesn’t appear to have the sturdiest of chins.
At 5-feet-11-inches tall with a 70-inch reach, Rosario has close to a two-inch height advantage on Lubin but gives up 4.5 inches in reach. Until beating Williams, Rosario’s toughest opponents had been Gallimore, Mark Anthony Hernandez, Jorge Cota, Juan Rodriguez, Jamontay Clark, Justin DeLoach and Salim Larbi.
Rosario won the vacant Dominican Republic Welterweight Title with a second-round TKO over Jose Vidal Soto in 2014 and the vacant WBA Fedecaribe Super Welterweight Belt with a third-round stoppage of Euri Gonzalez in 2015.
Prediction…
This is a pretty even matchup all around in all departments and both have enough power to cause damage. Lubin seems to be improving since being stopped by Charlo while Rosario is coming off of a defeat. If Rosario can perform like he did against Julian Williams he’ll have a good chance at winning this fight but I think the overall skills lie with Lubin and I’m expecting him to win a closely-contested bout.
