By Jim Dower: Undefeated #4 WBC, #8 WBA, #10 WBO junior middleweight contender Erickson Lubin (18-0, 13 KOs) obliterated and over-matched Jorge Cota (25-2, 22 KOs0 by a 4th round knockout on Saturday night on Showtime Championship Boxing via CBS at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The 22-year-old Lubin knocked Cota down with a scorching left hand to the head. Lubin connected on 50 of 133 punches for a 38 percent connect percentage.
(Photo credit: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
Moments before the knockdown in round 4, Lubin dropped both hands and attempted to lure Cota into throwing a shot. Lubin then crouched down below the waist, and then fired a left hand after he stood back up. Cota never even attempted to block the shot. Cota was badly hurt from the knockdown. When he got to his feet, he was on shaky legs. The referee then stopped the contest. Referee Albert Earl Brown stopped the fight at 1:25 of the round.
“That would mean a lot to me,” said Lubin when asked by Showtime interview Jim Gray if he’d like to face WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo. “I’m on my way to a world title shot.”
Cota was backed up against the ropes in rounds 1-3. He wasn’t able to stay in the center of the ring due to Lubin nailing him with big power shots to the head. It wasn’t a good idea for Cota to spend so much time against the ropes because he was getting worked over the entire time by Lubin.
Lubin has the ranking to get a title shot against Charlo. Whether he’s ready to face a solid fighter like the 26-year-old Charlo is the big question. That will be a tough fight for Lubin. Tonight’s match against Cota wasn’t much of a test for Lubin due to the slow hand speed that Cota possessed. Cota isn’t a major player at 154. This was more of a showcase fight for Lubin to get him ready for an eventual title shot. We’ll find out in the near future if Lubin has enough experience to handle the skills, power and speed of Charlo. It would be in Lubin’s best interest to face a good opponent before he gets to the Charlo fight because Cota was not a good test for him. It might be bad news for Lubin if he gets put in with Charlo right now. The one thing that Lubin has going for him is he wouldn’t be dealing with the more powerful of the Charlo brothers in Jermall Charlo. That wold be a dangerous fight, because Charlo has more size, power and speed than Lubin.
