Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (25-2) shined against Luis “Cuba” Arias (20-4-1) in his first fight since his knockout loss to Sebastian Fundora 14 months ago.
The fight, which was contested at a 157 pound catchweight, served as Saturday night’s Showtime televised co-feature bout underneath Carlos Adames’ 9th round stoppage win over Julian Williams. The event took place at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lubin took control of the fight early on with his jab and knocked down Arias with a shot behind the ear. Arias appeared to beat the count of 10 by getting up to his feet, but referee Zac Young decided otherwise and stopped the fight by waving it off.
In the post fight interview, Arias complained that Lubin's fight ending combination was punctuated by a punch that landed to the back of the head.
Nevertheless, it was an impressive return for Lubin after his 2022 Fight of the Year candidate loss to Fundora in which both men hit the canvas.
Lubin's coach, Kevin Cunningham, was very impressed with his charge’s performance and hopes that he will be back in a big fight in the very near future.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to get the rust off. Cuba came to fight like I knew he would. Hammer showed he’s still one of the elite guys at 154 or 160. He dominated and stopped an opponent that has never been stopped before. If an opportunity presents itself at 154 or 160 we want it” Cunningham told BoxingScene.com.
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