Nathaniel Gallimore remembers exactly what he was doing the moment he received the phone call to step in on short notice for a fight with Erickson Lubin.
“I was in the gym, staying in shape and staying ready for whatever opportunity was bound to come my way,” Gallimore (21-3-1, 17KOs) told BoxingScene.com. “It wasn’t any different from any other day. I’m always in shape, always ready to fight.”
It helped rescue an Oct. 26 show that saw its original main event and televised opener fall out late in the game. Erickson Lubin was due to face 2012 Olympian and current fringe contender Terrell Gausha, who had to withdraw due to injury. In his place for the Showtime-televised tripleheader which airs live from the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania (Saturday, 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT)—is Gallimore, a veteran spoiler and still junior middleweight title hopeful from Chicago by way of Kingston, Jamaica.
News of the revised main event came about in early October, a little more than three weeks out from fight night. Both boxers have spent a little bit longer than that preparing for Saturday’s collision, although it’s a fight that has been on Gallimore’s mind for quite some time.
“There was a time when I had two fights on my radar while still coming up,” notes Gallimore. “One was Justin DeLoach. That fight happened and we all saw what I did there (Gallimore claimed a one-sided 5th round knockout in their July 2017 battle of junior middleweight prospects).
“The other was Lubin. He was training for a title fight at the time (versus Jermell Charlo, against whom he would suffer his lone career defeat in a 1st round stoppage loss), but I always wanted to fight him. At the time, I had just beaten DeLoach and (then unbeaten) Jeison Rosario) back-to-back and I was ready to add Lubin’s name to that list.
“It wasn’t meant to be then. I’m a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. He lost his title fight. I lost a couple of fights (decision defeats to Julian Williams, now a unified 154-pound titlist, and Patrick Teixeira) but now back to taking my craft 100% serious. So, maybe this fight didn’t come when I first wanted it, but it’s here at the right time in my career.
“This is why I always stay ready. I’m a promotional free agent, I know that I’m not going to come in as the A-side. This fight is the same as when I fought Justin DeLoach (replacing an ill Fernando Guerrero on a few days’ official notice). Before this call, I was looking at the top names, all the champions. This win on Saturday will put me in line with everyone I was looking at before I got this offer to face Lubin."
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox