‘It’s my job to stop this young boy’s dreams’: Erickson Lubin says Jesus Ramos Jr has bit off more than he can chew

Erickson Lubin has been a young fighter in a big step-up fight and lost before. It happened in 2017, getting a shot against Jermell Charlo for the WBC 154 lb title.

Charlo stopped Lubin in the first round.

On Sept. 30, Lubin (25-2, 18 KO), now 27 as Charlo was then, will face rising contender Jesus Ramos Jr (20-0, 16 KO), now 22 as Lubin was in 2017. Lubin is looking to “pull a Charlo,” as it were, and sees his experience as a major advantage.

“When it comes to ‘A-side’ or ‘B-side’, it doesn’t really matter in this fight. I’m the one with experience. He wants to be in my spot,” Lubin said from training camp. “He’s young, he’s undefeated, he’s been on big undercards and stuff like that. But they must have given him the ‘A-side’ because of his looks or something because I’m really the ‘A-side’ if it comes down to it.

“He wants to take what I have. It’s my job to stop this young boy’s dreams. He bit off more than he can chew too early. This is an important fight for me. I’m going to show the world that I’m not a gatekeeper in this division. I’m one of the top dogs in this division. Being a gatekeeper doesn’t sit well with me. So I’m motivated. I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and it will show.”

Ramos last fought in March, dominating and stopping Joey Spencer inside of seven rounds, while Lubin was last seen in June, putting Luis Arias away in the fifth, a bounce-back from his 2022 loss to Sebastian Fundora in a slugfest.

Lubin again says his experience will be key, and that while Ramos may be taking a step up, he’s not, and he won’t see anything new from his young opponent.

“Ramos is nothing that I haven’t seen before, and on fight night, he’s gonna know that I’m the better man,” he said. “He’s a tough southpaw, but I’ve watched enough to dissect him and go out there and execute in the fight. He’s a good fighter, but he’s not perfect. There are a lot of flaws that I can definitely capitalize on and that’s what I’m going to do.”

More from Erickson Lubin

“We haven’t done too much differently this training camp. The one thing we have done differently is the game plan. Every training camp we give it our all. We train really hard and that’s just the program and system that we live by. I’ve had over 200 rounds of great sparring with young guys and veterans, so I’m sharp.”

“I asked for this fight before Ramos fought Joey Spencer. They told me no. I guess he was still growing, but now is the time for him. I’m excited for it. He’s a young lion and I’m going to show him that I’m a young lion with more experience. I’m hungrier than he is. I just want it more.”

“I’m strong mentally. I really believe in myself. I know the talent that I have. I’m very talented. My hiccups only made me better. With the Charlo fight, I was a little bit too young. Charlo was fighting in his 30th fight and it was just my 19th. The experience level was different.

“With the Fundora loss, that was a fight I was winning. My trainer had to throw in the towel because of my face. He cares for me beyond boxing. He saw my face swollen and lumped up and he did what he felt was best. We live to fight another day. I came back, went to the drawing board and got better and smarter. Right now, I’m just entering my prime. I’m 27 years old and the best of me will show. I’m excited, I’m stoked, and I definitely want to show that I’m the best fighter in the division.”

“I don’t feel that I have to make a statement, but I will make a statement. I’m always motivated to just win. That’s the only objective. But I feel I will make a statement. With the hard training camp that we had with Kevin Cunningham, who is a zero-tolerance type of trainer, he’s drawn up a great game plan and it always works. So I’m definitely going in there, listening to him, and it’s going to be a great night.”

“I’ve been waiting for moments like this. I feel like this is going to bring the best out of me. We put in a hard 10 weeks of camp. I just got back from fighting in June. Activity brings the best out of me. This is what I asked for. It’s the big stage and I’m going to show that I’m a very elite fighter. They know I’m elite, but I’m going to show that I’m one of the best in the world and I’m here to stay. I’ve got this young kid in front of me and he wants to take my spot.”