Erickson Lubin dominates Nathaniel Gallimore but fails to excite

Erickson Lubin took one more step on Saturday night to scrubbing clean his 2017 knockout loss to Jermell Charlo – but he may want to think about kicking it into another gear if he wants people to care.

The hard-hitting junior middleweight outpointed Nathaniel Gallimore over 10 largely humdrum rounds at the Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was a near shutout for the Florida-based fighter, who controlled the pace and landed the harder punches but never seemed interested in pressing the action.

The scores were 99-91, 99-91, 99-91, all for Lubin, who made it four straight wins since the loss to Charlo.

Gallimore was a late replacement for Lubin’s original opponent, Terrell Gausha, who pulled out citing an injury sustained during training camp. Gallimore isn’t as skillful as Gausha but he’s a more dangerous puncher, which presented a different challenge for Lubin.

But the fight was hardly the barn-burner that it was expected be. 

Perhaps wary of Gallimore’s straight right, the southpaw Lubin (22-1, 16 knockouts) took a far more tactical and ultimately effective approach, working behind a range-finding jab and landing the straight left to the body. Occasionally, Lubin would catch Gallimore’s attention with a stiff shot, but he was never truly able to hurt him. Conversely, Gallimore (21-4-1, 17 KOs) had no answer, except the senseless yapping he would engage in after many of the rounds. 

After a careful beginning, Lubin picked things up to some degree in the fourth round by stunning Gallimore with a right hook and followed it up with a fusillade of punches, including a few straight lefts that rocked Gallimore’s head back. 

But time and time again, whenever it appeared Lubin was approaching a stoppage, he would take his foot off the pedal and allow Gallimore to get back in the fight. For a naturally heavy-handed fighter, Lubin was much too reticent. 

Afterward, Lubin credited his relatively new coach Kevin Cunningham for whipping him into shape.

“I had a tremendous training camp, thanks to Kevin Cunningham,” Lubin said. “We’ve been at it for 10 weeks.”

Asked if he wanted to avenge his lone loss, Lubin responded in the affirmative.

“I definitively want Jermell Charlo again,” he said. “… I definitely want that rematch.”