EXCLUSIVE: Erickson Lubin Talks About Boxing Return, Injury Update, Fatherhood, Mike Tyson Series, Floyd Mayweather’s $20 Billion Deal, and More

Erickson Lubin is currently one of the best fighters in the super welterweight division. He is also the WBC Silver super-welterweight titleholder. Born to Haitian parents in Florida, Lubin grew up idolizing Oscar De La Hoya. Moreover, his passion for the sport also paved the way for his professional debut in 2013. Rightfully titled, ‘The Hammer’, his fights have been characterized by some of the most powerful performances in his division.

Lubin passed over a chance at the Olympics to turn pro by signing up with Mike Tyson‘s ‘Iron Mike Promotions’. And he went on to take the super-welterweight division by storm, raking up an impressive record of 24-2-0 with 17 knockouts. He was last seen in a sensational showdown against Sebastian Fundora.

The Ring magazine has also ranked him as the sixth-best active super-welterweight in the sport.

EssentiallySports recently had the opportunity to get on an exclusive interview with Lubin. He spoke about his return to the sport, injury update, and his dream for the future.

Good morning, everybody. I hope you’re all doing fine and fantastic. I’m Joshua Ben Joseph, and we have with us today, The Hammer himself, Erickson Lubin. The Ring Magazine has ranked him as the fourth best active welterweight in the sport. And legends like Floyd Mayweather and Mike Tyson have called him one of the biggest names in the sport of boxing, Mr. Lubin, it’s truly an honor. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.

Thanks for having me, man.

So how have you been? How’s life in Florida?

It’s great. You know, I have just been, you know, I’ve been training because, you know, I’m lining something back up for the, for the end of the year. You know, just hanging out with my kids. And, you know, I’m just good, man. Life’s good.

All right. Speaking of kids. How’s Malachi? How’s he doing? I saw a few videos of him recently on your Instagram.

Yeah, he’s good. He’s good. He’s growing, he’s getting bigger, he likes. he likes boxing likes basketball. You know, he’s a, he’s a smart little kid, too.

That is amazing. And if I’m not wrong, he was born around the time when you were preparing for the Jermall Charlo fight, right? Yeah. Yeah. So so how hard was it, you know, like juggling fatherhood, and, you know, the training camp?

Um, I got away for that camp, I actually went to, I was in New Jersey, I found out the fight was gonna be in New York at the Barclays. So I was already I was already pretty much gone and camp. And you know, fatherhood was just, it was something, something that was new for me. It was really new for me. So I, you know, I knew to stay focused on the on the fight. And then, you know, everything will fall in place as a father, you know, after a fight.

Yeah. And where you tensed to that time because I know both like two big responsibilities in hand. I mean, you would obviously be more tensed, right?

Yeah, for sure. I still made sure. You know, my family was okay. Still, make sure you know, baby mom, everybody, you know, everybody’s okay.

That is great. And I think in your last fight with Sebastian Fundura, you put in a lot of heart, but you did end up with a few serious injuries. So how’s the recovery coming both physically and mentally?

There was no real real serious injuries. I know, it looked like it. But you know, it was just a swelling. This one look bad. You know, I went to the hospital that night. And all they told me was that I had a hairline fracture in my nose. Okay, I was like, I was like, pretty surprised. But you know, it’s just, it’s just the way my I guess my face reacted or, you know, whatever the case may be, but, you know, it was a great fight. We gave fans what they wanted. Um, and like I said before, man, I’m, I’m ready to do it again.

Oh, yeah. Like the last time I checked, I think Jermall Charlo was like, he was the undisputed champion in your division. So we would get to see a rematch soon. Right?

Yeah, for sure. You know, um, you know, I’m looking to come back at the end of the year and, you know, fight whoever they put in front of me, I’m not really looking for any tune-up fights, you know, I want to fight the best one to beat the best and just become the best, you know.

And I was going to through your Twitter, I think you recently tweeted that you’d be ending the year strong. So how soon can we witness Hammer time?

I say around maybe December, November, December, I’ll be back in the ring. You know, I’ve been training I’m focused, I’m locked in on mental health is good. You know, um, you know, just hanging around, my kids helped me, you know, stay steady, you know, they keep they keep my head on my shoulders. So I’m ready. I’m ready to fight at the end of the year and ready to you know, fight the one of the best guys in the division and, you know, get get my title shot show him it’s Hammer Time.

Since you mentioned that you’re going to fight one of the best guys in the division. So can we expect to see a fight with one of the big names in the division?

I would hope so. I would hope you know, they can line that up for me and I fight one of the big names and honestly the four pound division. I felt like, I felt like in 154 pounds, you know, we’re all fighting each other. You know, it’s not like, you know, some of these other weight classes were, you know, some of the fights that they want to see, like, you know, we’ve been wanting to see Errol Spence and Terence Crawford. We’ve been wanting to see like, you know, Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia. You know, there’s a lot of fights that we want to see but you know, I just feel like the 154 pound division is producing those fights and making that happen.

Yeah. And since you were talking about all these iconic matchups, you also recently tweeted that you know, fighters nowadays are fighting nobodies. And I think we are in this era where we see YouTube boxing coming into full fruition and stuff. So what are your thoughts on that new YouTube boxing with everyone like KSI or Jake Paul entering the ring?

Um, you know, I mean, they’re bringing light to the sport, they bring a lot of attention and, you know, again, good, they’re doing good numbers and stuff like that. But, you know, when it comes to boxing, I don’t really feel like it’s a joke. I don’t feel like you know, there’s every other sport you can play, play basketball, football, whatever, you can’t really play boxing I just felt like, you know, where we come from, its just it’s totally different because you know, like we don’t we all will really look at Jake Paul as like one of the top dogs in boxing but to the media or to the to the world of people that don’t really know boxing, they’re probably looking at him like he’s one of the top dogs but he’s really not he’s not fighting real fighters.

Are these protecting a lot of these dudes protecting their own even even the real fighters they’re trying to, you know, sit down and protect the owns and fight nobodies and, and try to steal money. But you know, you got it hard earned; you gotta you got to go out there and fight if you want to, you know, consider yourself one of the best fighters in the world and make the best money in boxing.

And you know, I was actually talking to a few boxing fans recently. And, and they said, and I quote, “That this YouTube boxing phenomenon started because professional boxing stopped being as interesting as it used to be,” do you believe that is true?

I guess I’m like some of these fights that need to happen. Like, like, like I mentioned before, like the Errol Spence, Terence Crawford fight Gervonta Davis, you know, Devin Haney  all these dudes need to fight. I just feel like if we get that going, then, you know, boxing to be way bigger than what it is right now.

Yeah, I mean, you’re actually right, because we’ve had a lot of notable fights that were in the talks, but then they got cancelled. So I mean, I do believe those should happen. Right. So. So, so switching the gears. Actually, I would like to go back to your childhood. I’ve heard you grew up idolizing the legend, Oscar De La Hoya. So what parts of his career inspired you the most and what if incorporated into your current training and your career as a boxer?

Um, I like I like De La Hoya a lot. But you know, I actually really idolized Floyd Mayweather. That was like the number one boxing. So you know, most kids growing up and most fighters coming up. We all looked up to Floyd Mayweather, De La Hoya for a while was one of my favorite fighters because, you know, I like his style. And I watched that Fernando Vargas fight. I think I watched it live.

And then when I was watching it, I just, you know, I like the show. He put on like, I like how he ended up stopping them and everything. So I was like, you know, he’s one of my favorite fighters but always been Floyd Mayweather. Like, Floyd always carried himself and things he said, the way he trained the way you know, the way he just you know, live his lifestyle he’s Floyd Mayweather.

Yeah, I mean, I think I think Floyd is like the pinnacle of every boxer’s dream. And as yet, since we’re talking about Floyd Mayweather. He actually called you one of the best boxers in the sport right now. I mean, how does that make you feel? Because a compliment like that from Mayweather is not an easy feat. You know, like, right?

It makes me feel great. It makes me feel great. I fought on a few Mayweather promotions, you know, Mayweather promotions. PBC you know, they they work together, so I thought on a few cards where it was Mayweather promotions behind it. So Floyd definitely seen me before. You know. It’s a blessing, man. It’s a blessing because I work hard together. And you know, I’m still working. So for him to just, you know, give me my flowers and tell me that I want the best fighters and boxing today. You know, it’s heartwarming. It’s definitely something that was good to hear.

Yeah, and did you have any chance to watch his recent fight with Mikuru Asakura? Like it happened two days back? If I’m not wrong.

Yeah, I seen a little bit on Instagram. I didn’t get to see the fight fight. But maybe I’ll look it up after we get off the phone.

You should watch it. It was it was really interesting. Actually. It was.

Floyd can still fight. Can he?

Oh, of course. I mean, like, I have no doubt because Floyd is Floyd because no matter the age, I’m sure he’s still going to be the bada*s that he is. Yeah. And as we speak of Legends, at the age of 18, you passed up a chance for the Olympics to actually turn pro with Mike Tyson’s promotional company. So how did you meet Tyson and how did this partnership start?

I was in the Olympic Training Center. I was training at the Olympic training center one day, some some, some guys came to see me, see me spar, invited me to invited me to Miami because, you know, I’m from Florida, I lived in Orlando during the time; they invited me to Miami to just, you know, come, come hang out, and spar and all that type of stuff. So I just, I went the next day, after I came back from the Olympic Training Center.

Um, then I ended up going down to Miami, and they end up watching me so far, they was just really interested in signing me and stuff like that. And, you know, this is when Mike Tyson was, you know, just starting his promotion, you know, um, end up going to a few of those shows, and then an ink in the paper with them, because we just liked pretty much everything they were offering us. Because, you know, as a, as a young fighter, you know, you want to be, you want to be busy, you want to be active. And that’s what they promised. And that’s what they did. So, I fought, I fought my first year, like nine times nine or 10 times.

Nine times I mean. That would have been really taxing, you know, to fight in such rapid succession.

Yeah, I really, I really want that’s, that’s all I really wanted was to just be busy. You know, like, that’s, that’s the, that’s the worst thing a fighter could have is inactivity.

That is true. I mean, Mike Tyson especially spoke about that, because he mentioned and actually spoke about how fighters are just fighting once a year when he was in his prime. He used fight like three or four times in a year. Right. So you literally like did what he said though. Yeah. And so I actually want to ask you, I mean, Hulu recently released the series based on Tyson. And you know, I’ve not seen it yet, but Tyson was quick to slam it. What are your thoughts on the series. Do you think they gave? I mean, did they pay good tribute to the champ with the series?

Are you talking about the new documentary?

Yes. The Docuseries, new one? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I probably watched like the first 30 seconds. Then I turned it off. They don’t even look like Mike Tyson. Yeah, no, exactly. Yeah, It don’t really look like Mike Tyson. I wasn’t feeling the vibe. So I turned it off.

So now, I would like to deviate a little bit from the sport. What have you been doing to keep yourself busy? Other than the sport? I mean, like, what else have you been doing? Like, what do you do for fun?

Like I said, I like to hang out with my kids. You know, I’m in the real estate. Um, you know, I play basketball a lot. You know, I’m always active. I’m always in the gym. I’m always doing something. So I’m a real laid back type of dude.

Yeah, and Florida has got the most beautiful beaches out there. So I mean, I’m sure you’d love sometimes the ocean as well.

Yeah, I live right next to a beach. Oh, wow. There’s like a beach at every exit.

It’s true. And yeah, I mean, as you mention real estate. I mean, I recently read a news about Floyd Mayweather. He is a partner a $20 billion deal. I mean, I mean, it’s like a dream for a lot of people. Right? Yeah. When can we see our Erickson Lubin get to that level? I’m very sure we will see you at that level. But when, like, How soon do you predict that you’ll be at that level?

I plan to be on that level. So man, like you know, just get into big fights and be in the big names. And, you know, as long as I’m great in that ring, and long as I’m, you know, focused on my craft and dedicated the box and I feel like you know, sky’s the limit for me. And, you know, hard work pays off. So, all that is just, it all it all come together. Definitely come together. I believe myself. 100% I think I’m still the best at 154 pounds. So I think it’s all gonna come together that you know, me doing my thing in the ring is gonna pay me. I’m not counting the money before it comes, you know?

Yeah, that is true. And so I actually have a rapid fire section, you know, prepared because we do have a few interesting matchups coming up. So I would like you to predict who the winner of that matchup would be. Right? Totally. Totally. Awesome. Awesome. There’s Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall.

Uh I got Claressa

All right. And now Okay, this one I’m not sure about this. But Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva.

Jake Paul-Anderson Silva?

Yeah, that’s coming up, right? There’s a new one.

Oh, I think I think I think Jake Paul probably too young for him. Too Young for him. We’ll see though Anderson Silva was one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time . And he beat Julio Cesar Chavez in a boxing ring.

Yeah, that’s true. But do you think we can see Jake Paul fight real boxer anytime soon though?

No, I don’t think he’s gonna fight no real boxing. You see how he got out of the Rahman fight?

Yeah, exactly. I mean the weight cut like he didn’t make weight and stuff, but even the Tommy Fury fight has been in the talks for far too long, so I’m not sure how that’s gonna take place as well.

Yeah. Give me some more.

Then there’s Deontay Wilder and Robert Helenius

I’d say Deontay Wilder.

Oh, yes, that’s true. And this one this is actually the last one is actually one that I’ve actually looked forward to for the past few years. It’s been in talks for way too long, but it’s not happened as yet. But if it takes place, Anthony Joshua was Tyson Fury.

Uh, I got Tyson fury. Tyson Fury, he’s a way better boxer.

But do you think I mean, even with the talks and stuff, do you think Joshua has any chance against Fury in any way?

Um, oh, always a chance. There’s always a chance it’s a fight. It only takes one one shot sometimes but I think I think Fury is is is one hell of a heavyweight. I think his skills is just you know, superior, way more superior than Anthony. Joshua was. But Josh was a good fighter. You know? He’s a good fighter. He’s gonna come ready to fight. You know, they’re gonna sell out. Probably gonna pack one of those stadiums and the UK and make a boatload of money.

All right. That’s true. Yeah. And so before we go, I would actually really love to ask you like, Do you have any special message for your fans? I know a lot of them are looking forward to see you perform again. 

To my fans, um, get ready. It’s almost Hammer time again. I’m gonna fight. I’m gonna fight one more time before the year is up. So stay tuned.

There’s one more question that I’m actually going to add, which I don’t add to my usual interviews, but what is your message to all those people who have doubted you?

Keep doubting man, if you’re gonna keep down, you’re gonna keep doubting. You know, that’s just fuel to my fire, to give me more fuel. You know, I’ve seen a lot of people. I got DMS and messages on my Instagram or people telling me that they hate me and then after my next fight, they’re telling me I mean, after my last fight, they’re telling me that they love me. So it’s like, I don’t pay too much attention to that is why maybe you love me, next minute you don’t. Or vice versa, but I’m here to do my job. I’m here to be the best boxer I could be.

Honest. Yeah. So, Alright, thank you so much. It’s been an honor to talk to you. Thank you so much for taking the time out to talk to us.

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