By Ian S Palmer
There’s a fine 12-round junior middleweight bout on tap this Saturday, April 9th as Erickson Lubin of Orlando, Florida will be taking on unbeaten Seabstian Fundora of West Palm Beach, Florida. The fight from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in America on Showtime while fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 2. Lubin last fought in June when he stopped former IBF and WBA Junior Middleweight Champ Jeison Rosario in the sixth round to retain his WBC Silver Super Welterweight Title which he won nine months earlier when he beat Terrell Gausha by 12-round unanimous decision. Fundora was last in the ring in December when he beat Sergio Garcia by 12-round unanimous decision in a slugfest.
The 26-year-old Lubin is a southpaw who has an impressive record of 24-1 with 17 Kos. The youngster has quite a bit of power in his speedy fists with a current knockout ratio of 68 per cent and 11 stoppages in his last 16 bouts. Lubin, who stands just over 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 74.5-inch reach, turned pro in November, 2013 and has 110 rounds of experience under his belt since then.
Lubin’s stiffest test came in October, 2017 when he faced Jermell Charlo in a shot at the WBC Jr. Middleweight Title, but he was stopped in the very first round. However, he’s won six fights in a row since then. 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.
Lubin is a fine prospect with a lot of potential and is hoping to earn himself 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 Fundora.
The 24-year-old Fundora is a bit of a freak of nature as the ‘Towering Inferno’ stands just over 6-feet-5-inches tall with an 80-inch reach. This gives the southpaw an eight-inch height advantage over Lubin as well as a 5.5-inch edge in reach. He climbs into the ring with a near-perfect record of 18-01 with 12 Kos and has gone 88 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 following an amateur career.
Fundora also has better-than average power to go along with a solid chin as his current knockout ratio stands at 63.2 per cent. His lone draw was a 10-round affair with Jamontay Clark in August, 2019 in a shot at the vacant WBC Youth Welterweight Title. So far he’s beaten the likes of Donnie Marshall, Nathaniel Gallimore, Habib Ahmed, Jorge Cota and Garcia as a pro.
Prediction…
Fundora is stepping up in class and even though he’s as tall as a heavyweight he usually doesn’t use his size to his advantage as he likes to fight on the inside at times and go toe-to-toe. This results in excitement for the fans but he got hit too much against Garcia in his last outing. He’d be advised to use his huge reach and height advantages against Lubin as the smaller man has the better boxing skills and arguably more power. Lubin has been improving since being stopped by Charlo and I think if he’s at his best on Saturday night he should be able to do just enough to take care of Fundora.
