Winner to get a title shot? Erickson Lubin vs. Jeison Rosario

Erickson Lubin and former junior middleweight champion, Jeison Rosario, who meet this Saturday in a title eliminator, have a few things in common-- like age, experience, and boxing ability.

They’ve also been stopped by the same fighter. Jermell Charlo knocked out Lubin in 2017 and Rosario last year.

How they’ve responded to being defeated are, except for one exception, entirely different.

Lubin went back to the drawing board. He took time off, changed trainers, (as did Rosario), and rebuilt his career.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot from that night (against Charlo),” Lubin told Joseph Santoliquito of The Ring in 2019. “I went from one of the hottest young fighters in the game, and then became overlooked and underrated. I feel like I made a decision to move to Kevin Cunningham, I feel I’ve pushed my team to another level.”

Lubin has won five fights in a row since his lone setback, three by stoppage. He’s rareing to go.

“I gained a lot of experience fighting Nathaniel Gallimore and Terrell Gausha,” Lubin said. “Those are top contenders. I don’t want any tune-up fights, that’s why I took this fight against Rosario. I gained a lot of confidence and everything is clicking for me right now.”

Rosario, instead of following Lubin’s lead as far as tune-up fights go, is jumping right back into the fray. It’s debatable how wise this is. Boxing, as is life, is very mental. As much as he’d like to, Rosario hasn’t forgotten about being stopped by Charlo, but he says he’s learned to live with it.

“What happened in the Charlo fight was the fluke,” said Rosario. “Me winning the titles was not the fluke. I’m going to show everybody that I will bounce back from that loss and win my next fight. I have no problem taking this fight. It’s not a mistake at all. This is what we do. We fight.”

Lubin disagrees.

“I think this is the wrong fight for Rosario to take coming off a knockout loss,” Lubin said.

I tend to agree with Lubin, but Rosario made his bones by upsetting Julian Williams in 2020. He rolled the dice and won. He could have opted for a defense or two but instead rolled the dice again by fighting the talented Charlo.

Snake eyes.

It’s also important to note that even though he was floored three times by Charlo, Rosario was only down a point on Steve Weisfeld’s card.

Lubin looked good at times in his last fight against Terrell Gausha. He also lost focus. So perhaps Rosario’s risk is calculated.

I give Lubin the edge, but a late Rosario knockout would not be a shocker.