Junior middleweights Erickson Lubin and Terrell Gausha will meet in a world title eliminator on Oct. 26, Premier Boxing Champions announced on Monday.
The fight will take place at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, and headline a Showtime- televised tripleheader (9 p.m. ET).
In the co-feature, former lightweight world titlist Robert Easter Jr. will move up in weight to make his junior welterweight debut against the battle-tested Adrian Granados, who has faced many quality opponents, and former bantamweight world titleholders Rau’shee Warren and Emmanuel Rodriguez will meet in a title eliminator to open the show.
The Lubin-Gausha winner will move a step closer to a mandatory shot at 154-pound world titlist Tony Harrison. The Warren-Rodriguez winner will do the same for a shot at 118-pound titlist Nordine Oubaali. Lubin (21-1, 16 KOs), 23 of Orlando, Florida, who was the 2016 ESPN prospect of the year, was on the fast track when he got a shot at then-junior middleweight titlist Jermell Charlo in October 2017 and suffered a first-round knockout loss.
“Erickson Lubin is fast on the track to another world title opportunity, but he’ll have to get through a veteran with a tremendous pedigree in Terrell Gausha,” said TGB Promotions’ president Tom Brown, the promoter of the card.
Since the loss to Charlo, Lubin, known as “The Hammer,” has won three fights in a row since, each by knockout, including most recently a fourth-round stoppage against Zakaria Attou in a semifinal elimination bout on June 29 in Houston.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to showcase my talents once again on Showtime,” Lubin said. “I’m focused on the task at hand, and that’s beating a world class opponent in Terrell Gausha. My plan is to put all of the beltholders in my division on notice with a victory. I’ve been in camp for five weeks with five weeks to go. I’ll be supremely conditioned and fundamentally sound on Oct. 26.”
Gausha (21-1-1, 10 KOs), 32, a Cleveland native fighting out of Encino, California, will also be seeking to earn a second shot at a world title. In October 2017, Gausha, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, challenged then-titlist Erislandy Lara, got dropped in the fourth round and lost a unanimous decision in a sleep-inducing fight. Gausha is aiming for a far better performance against Lubin.
“This is going to be an action-packed fight with me and a strong young fighter like Lubin,” Gausha said. “He’s a good test for me. Lubin will be the fourth southpaw in a row that I’ve faced and I’m ready to go again. I’m just at a point where I want to fight the best and most challenging fights possible. He called me out and I’m definitely going to be ready for him.”
Easter (21-1-1, 14 KOs), 28, of Toledo, Ohio, outpointed Richard Commey to win a vacant lightweight world title in 2016 and made three successful defenses before suffering a lopsided unanimous decision loss in a title unification fight against Mikey Garcia in July 2018.
Easter returned from that fight on April 27 and fought to a split draw with former world titlist Rances Barthelemy.
At 5-foot-11, Easter was huge for the 135-pound division and excited to move up in weight. “I’m moving up to 140 pounds and I’ve been preparing really hard for this fight,” Easter said. “Expect me to come out and be very explosive. I anticipate Granados coming to fight like he always does. He’s a fighter who always comes prepared and puts his heart into it, but I’m going to do the same thing and show that I’m ready to make a statement in this division.”
Granados (20-7-2, 14 KOs), 30, of Chicago, has faced several name opponents and been competitive, including knocking out Amir Imam in an upset, and also giving tough fights to Shawn Porter and Javier Fortuna. The only opponent to truly dominate Granados was Danny Garcia, a former two-division world titlist, who knocked him out in the seventh round of a welterweight fight on April 20.
“I’m expecting a tough fight against Robert Easter Jr.,” Granados said. “Our styles mesh well. Easter is a sharp fighter and that’s why I’m giving it everything I have in training camp. I’m looking to bounce back from my last fight and show everyone that I still have a lot to give the sport of boxing. Easter is a technician in the ring but I’m a warrior and I’m going to come with everything that I have.”
Warren (16-3, 4 KOs), 32, of Cincinnati, held a world title briefly in 2016 and 2017 before losing it in his first defense by split decision to Zhanat Zhakiyanov. Warren, a three-time U.S. Olympian, won his next two fights and then got a chance to challenge Oubaali for a vacant world title in January on the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner undercard but lost a unanimous decision. Now he’s back hoping to earn another title opportunity.
“I’m ready to bounce back and prove I’m still one of the best bantamweights in the world,” Warren said. “This is a great fight for me to do that. After this fight I’m ready to get that belt back again because I miss it. I know these fighters can’t beat me when I’m at my best.”
Rodriguez (19-1, 12 KOs), 27, of Puerto Rico, made one successful defense of his world title by outpointing Jason Moloney last October in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series. But in the semifinals in May, Rodriguez got knocked down three times in a one-sided second-round knockout loss to Japan’s Naoya Inoue, one of the world best fighters, pound-for-pound. Rodriguez has not fought since.+
“I’m super excited to return in a great fight like this,” Rodriguez said. “Warren is a very good fighter and a victory over him will put me where I want to be. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get closer to reaching my goal of becoming a world champion again in 2020. I have learned from the mistakes of my loss and I’m confident everyone is going to be talking about my performance on Oct. 26.”