Erickson Lubin was banking round after round when he was surprised with an overhand right in the 10th round that briefly turned his legs to jelly.
That was the only serious hiccup that Lubin had to overcome, as he scored a unanimous decision victory over Terrell Gausha at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on Saturday night. Judges scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113 all in favor of Lubin, who took the WBC junior middleweight title eliminator and is now in line to face the winner between next week's title unification bout between Jermell Charlo and Jeison Rosario.
Lubin didn't live up to his "Hammer" nickname, but the southpaw was cruising to victory before Gausha caught him off guard with that overhand right in the 10th. Lubin's legs gave way and Gausha rushed him, sensing the moment was his only chance to capitalize and perhaps pull off the upset. However, Lubin made sure he recovered from the moment and regained his composure enough to blast Gausha with a right of his own that hurt the 2012 U.S. Olympian during the 12th and final round.
The solid night of work proved fruitful, as Lubin inches closer to a world title shot. Lubin was eviscerated by Charlo with a short right hook for a first-round knockout in their October 2017 fight, with Lubin yearning for a shot at redemption against him since.
"Lubin vs. Charlo 2 ...," Lubin exclaimed to Showtime. "That's if he takes care of business like I did tonight."
Co-main event: Tugstsogt Nyambayar powers past Cobia Breedy in WBC featherweight title eliminator
Nyambayar dropped Breedy with a right hook across the jaw in the first round. He then knocked Breedy down with a sweeping left hook in the second.
Although Breedy fought valiantly the rest of the way, Nyambayar's early output and power shots that followed were more than enough for "King Tug" to notch the split decision (111-115, 114-112, 114-113) in a bout that could have very well been scored a unanimous decision in his favor. With the win, Nyambayar gets one step closer to gaining another world title shot. The Mongolian fighter lost to WBC featherweight champion Gary Allen Russell Jr. in February.
Jaron Ennis blasts Juan Carlos Abreu via sixth-round TKO; Welterweight
These "Boots" are made for doling out dazzing boxing displays.
Jaron "Boots" Ennis recorded his 16th straight knockout with a sixth-round TKO of Juan Carlos Abreu.
Ennis, who landed 56 percent of his power punches, was picking his shots beautifully all fight long when he uncorked a picture-perfect counter right uppercut to drop Abreu in the fifth round. Abreu beat the count, but ill-advisedly told Ennis "f— you" after the round ended.
Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs) responded in the sixth by placing a counter right hand off Lubin's head to drop the rugged Dominican fighter for the second time in the bout. Moments later, the Philadelphia star in the making ended the show with a left uppercut that made Abreu taste the canvas once again, prompting the ref to stop the bout immediately.
Yet another sample of how much of a problem Ennis can be to the welterweight division.