In the co-main event on Showtime, super welterweight contender Erickson Lubin dropped and stopped Luis “Cuba” Arias in the fifth round of their scheduled ten-round showdown.
Lubin was returning to the ring for the first time since losing to Sebastian Fundora in a 2022 Showtime Fight of the Year. “Hammer” was the cleaner puncher throughout the five rounds, consistently landing various shots.
Arias spent much of the fight looking to close the distance and land a game-changing power shot against Lubin, who had been stopped in both defeats.
Lubin vs Arias
“I felt like I was landing my shots pretty well,” said Lubin. “He was a lot slower than I was. I was able to see everything he had coming. I felt good. I’ve been in the gym since my Fundora loss and am ready for them all.
“Lubin fought a good fight, but I still had five more rounds to land that shot,” said Arias. “I landed it a couple of times, and he felt it.”
Already having one of his best rounds of the fight, Lubin broke through in round five to hurt Arias with a chopping right hand that sent Arias to the mat. Arias took a knee and appeared to just barely beat referee Zac Young’s count, but instead, the fight was called 2:11 into the round.
“I know that if they let him keep fighting, I would attack him and try to get him out anyways. I knew he was hurt, I hurt him with a body shot earlier in the round, and he started to slow down a little bit, and then the head shot just took him down.”
Post-fight
Arias, who had never been stopped before and had entered the fight having won two of his last three outings, strongly disagreed with Young’s decision when asked about it post-fight.
“That was definitely a bad count,” said Arias. “I need to go back and look at it and see if it was ten. That’s just part of the game.
“It was loud, [the referee] saw us taking some shots, both of us, and he did, and what he had to do. But I felt like it wasn’t a fair count. And as I said, I’ll be back.
“My career has always been about reviving myself, fighting the best.”
The 27-year-old Lubin was jovial post-fight and intended to take on top fighters, including the night’s primary event winner.
“That Fundora fight just motivated me,” said Lubin. “We got Fight of the Year last year, and I just came back strong. It just motivated me, man. I’m ready for the fights at 154, and I’m ready for the winner of this main event.”
Brooks vs Truax
Preceding the Showtime telecast, the action was topped by Dallas’ Burley Brooks. He earned a unanimous decision [98-91, 96-93 twice] over former world champion Caleb “Golden” Truax (31-6-2, 19 KOs) in their ten-round light heavyweight clash.
Brooks could edge the decision despite being deducted a point in round nine for repeatedly losing his mouthpiece. He also won despite the Minnesota native Truax fighting in front of his hometown crowd.
Ancajas
Also featured on the live stream was former super flyweight world champion Jerwin Ancajas scoring a fifth-round stoppage of Colombia’s Wilner Soto.
Ancajas first dropped Soto in round four. He followed up in round five with the decisive blows that ended the fight 2:43 into the round.
The action opened up with 19-year-old prospect Mickel Spencer and Lyle McFarlane. They fought to a no-decision after an accidental head butt in round three left McFarlane unable to continue, according to the ringside physician.
Furthermore, officials halted the bout 1:31 into the round.
