Erickson Lubin says he wants to challenge IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev. Lubin (28-2, 16 KOs) revealed that Tim Tszyu already intended to fight him if he beat Murtazaliev (23-0, 17 KOs) on Saturday night, but he lost by a thirds. round TKO, that fight never happened again. Lubin says he will move on now and face Murtazaliev later.
Lubin Wants Title Shot
Unless the IBF orders the fight, this will be a voluntary defense for Murtazaliev, who said last Saturday that he wanted to fight unification matches. If he can’t get any of the champions to fight, he could be open to defending against Lubin.
Lubin has won his last two fights against Jesus Ramos and Luis Arias since being stopped by Sebastian Fundora in the ninth round two years ago on April 9, 2022. Erickson’s 12-round unanimous decision victory over to Ramos it was a minor encounter, like many. of people thought he would lose that fight. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
Lubin, 29, has been inactive for 13 months since his victory over Ramos on September 30 last year. He says he doesn’t like getting tune-ups. So, if Lubin faces Murtazaliev next, he will be coming off a long layoff to face one of the most dangerous fighters in the 154 lb. division.
“It was exciting from the opening bell. Tim Tszyu was caught, and he couldn’t recover,” Erickson Lubin told Thaboxingvoice, talking about Saturday night’s fight between Tim Tszyu and the IBF junior middleweight champion Bakhram Murtazaliev.
“Nah, I had my money on Tim Tszyu,” Lubin said when asked if he expected that outcome. “He was already a champion. So if Tim had beaten him, me and Tim, we already had something planned. But now we have to go and try to take this Russian guy (Murtazaliev).
Tune-ups are not required
Lubin should be confident he wants to take Murtazaliev, but he could live to regret it. This is not Jesus Ramos or Luis Arias that he has to face. Also, Murtazaliev is a much bigger puncher than the 6’6″ Sebastian Fundora, who took a severe beating from Lubin, turning his face into the look of a lion. His face looked nothing like what he had at the beginning of the fight.
“Nah, I don’t even like tune-ups. I’ll go with him,” said Lubin who was ready to challenge Murtazaliev for his IBF belt next.
