Lou DiBella
October 14th is going to be a loaded unbelievable night of boxing and it starts with Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares in separate title defenses on a PBC double header from StubHub Center in Carson, California airing on FOX and FOX Deportes at 7:30 pm ET/ 4:30 pm PT.
That show ends at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT. We have a tremendous SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING tripleheader presented by Premiere Boxing Champions starting right after. Champion Erislandy Lara against undefeated 2012 U.S. Olympian challenger Terrell Gausha WBA 154-pound title. WBC 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo versus Erickson Lubin, a Battle of undefeateds and young sensational champion Jarrett Hurd IBF 154-pound champion versus former champion Austin Trout for the IBF Championship.
It’s a tremendous event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night October 14, 2017 airs on SHOWTIME at 10 pm ET and 7 pm PT. Tickets for this event are available starting at $400 for VIP ringsides down to 50 bucks. They can be purchased at TicketMaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, by calling 1-800-745-3000 also at the American Express Box office at the Barclays Center.
So it’s an unbelievable night of boxing starting on Fox in Carson California 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT going over to Brooklyn and I’m really proud to promote this tripleheader. It’s an unbelievable night of boxing. There will be an unbelievable undercard and also sensation on the undercard Tony Harrison is coming back on that undercard. One of the Serrano sisters, Cindy Serrano one of the true champion Serrano sister is on the undercard, on a loaded undercard and then going to these three great bouts.
We’re going to start the call with the Jarrett Hurd vs Austin Trout fight. Former WBA 154 pound champion Austin Trout made four defenses including a well-known unanimous decision win over Miguel Cotto in December 2012. Austin has a great record of 30-3 and 17 KOs fighting out of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Like I said this guy is a pro and this should be a real test for young stud champion Jarrett Hurd. Austin can you say a few words?
Austin Trout
I’ve given all honors and praises to the most high and I am blessed with this opportunity to not only be a part of a great card like this but to be in a great fight with a champion like Jarrett Hurd. I have the utmost respect for the guy. He didn’t have to take this fight and I want to thank him for making a defense like this. Camp has been great, my weight is good, I’m in shape, I’m feeling strong. I’m peaking at the right time and I’m more than excited to go out there and show everybody that not only am I a live dog but I’m championship material.
L. DiBella
Thank you Austin. You are definitely championship material. You’ve been a champion and you’ve proven that. This next young kid is championship material too. I know he’s beaten my fighters before and I’ve gotten to promote a number of his fights and he’s a sensational young fighter with power 20-0, 14 KOs from Maryland, Jarrett Hurd.
Jarrett Hurd
I want to thank everybody, we know who we’re up against, he’s a great fighter and this is something I need under my belt to solidify me as one of the greats. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity and I can’t wait until October 14th.
Q
Can you speak to the reason for your long layoff Austin? I don’t know if you’ve had any injuries or there was some other issue?
A. Trout
Actually no, there was no reason for the layoff, no injuries, no nothing. I really can’t tell you why I’ve had such a layoff. I’m not happy about it but it is what it is but I thank God I’ve been in the gym and keeping in shape, call it vanity or not, trying not to get fat and trying to keep this beach bod so I’m still sharp, we’ve knocked all the ring rust out in camp. It’s time to work.
I’ve been trying to get a fight, especially after Charlo dispatched Julian Williams I felt my stock grows and I should have been put right back in but things happen and things don’t happen for reasons.
Q
Do you feel like you might have needed a single fight before you took this step up or are you satisfied to go back in the ring with what I think most people would perceive as a very dangerous fight?
A. Trout
I did want – not to say a tune-up but a get back fight – but at the same time you can’t pass up these opportunities because they don’t come too often. I wasn’t going to turn down this shot. I had to come and take what they gave me.
Q
So what are your general thoughts about the type of fighter that Jarrett is?
A. Trout
Everybody knows that he’s the undefeated champion for reasons so you can’t smack on a kid like that. He is a big strong dude and it’s crazy, because I don’t know how these big dudes make 154 but I feel like I’ve been here before. My last fight was on a stacked card with Junior Middleweights and this guy was extremely big for the Junior Middleweight division, he was the undefeated champion of the IBF, former fight Deja vu. At the same time, him and Charlo are not the same person or the same guy. Again we see holes in his game. At the end of the day it’s just going to end up being me and him and we have to punch through those holes.
Q
Can you just give me your prospective about taking on the caliber of an Austin Trout in your first defense?
J. Hurd
Yes, this is a fight I actually chose. We knew what was on the line with this fight with Austin Trout. He’s no slouch and with his three losses, he had been in every fight so we knew this fight was going to be tough especially for a first defense but that describes me as a fighter including my mindset. I am a true champion, I want to fight the best and I don’t want the fights that are not going to progress me and put me in line for the even bigger fights. I want to take the tough fights and I feel like if there’s the slightest chance that an opportunity presents itself why can’t I better myself? I’m willing to take that chance.
Q
Do you think that maybe you could basically just over power him and win this fairly easily, is that a thought in your mind?
J. Hurd
Yes, I’m definitely a bigger fighter but it’s not in my mind to overpower him but I look at this fight different than with the Tony Harrison fight. My mind was on that fight because we know Tony Harrison is the type of fighter to gas out in the later rounds as pressure stayed on top of him and Austin Trout performs differently. He’s going to be ready for 12 rounds, so I feel like this fight is going to be more technical and whoever the smarter guy in the ring is will win. I’m not really banking on Austin Trout to get tired off the pressure. He knows I’m ready for 12 rounds.
Q
How close attention are you going to pay to the other two fights because from what Lou says and what the SHOWTIME people say, the idea here is to have you guys separate yourselves on the card on October 14th and then hopefully put the winners together?
J. Hurd
After the success from October 14th, I’m not doing any interviews or anything, I’m going straight ring side until the end of both of those fights. That’s why people ask me me, did you want to be the opener or would you prefer being the main event. I said, “I don’t hate being the opener because once I finish handling my business in the ring, I can observe my future opponents ringside.”
Q
Do you feel like all your past experiences will help you go into this fight or is it like more of the same?
A. Trout
This is not my first time being laid off and for no good reason. So I’ve been here before, luckily I stay in the gym, just looking on the bright side. Maybe they had me laid off for most of these times to keep me preserved. I don’t have as much wear and tear as most guys my age an fighting as long as I have, I’m still fresh, my legs are still strong and I’m ready to take full advantage of my physical peak that I’m in right now.
Q
Are you doing your whole camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico?
A. Trout
Yes, I have kept the whole camp here: we have good altitude, great running trails. Training from here is where I won my title and had success so we just brought it back to where we kind of started.
Q
Can you talk a little bit about your career and how it has developed and where do you feel like you are at right now in your career?
J. Hurd
We’re exactly where we want to be. I’ve accomplished something that all fighters dream of and that’s to win a world title and I don’t feel like this is where my legacy ends. This is only the beginning. I set one goal and accomplished it and now is time to become legendary. I always say to myself I want to be one of them guys when my career is over that fighters look up on YouTube to study. Basically, I want to be a big name so fighting is my career so I took all the necessary steps, from fighting prospects, contenders to now fighting at a world championship level and I’m right where I want to be.
Q
When did you start boxing Jarrett and was it always your goal to be a professional?
J. Hurd
I started boxing at 15 years old and I was kind of in and out of the gym from 15 to 22 years old and I only had 30 plus amateur fights so I was in and out of the gym. I’ll fight all that come around and I ended up stopping boxing for a few years and my trainer, Ernesto Rodriguez, he was training me during amateurs and I was working at Safeway and he called me all the time and tells me, “Man you don’t have to work if you know how to fight” and a long story short man he was at Safeway and I told him him I wanted to come back to the gym one more time and when I came back he told me if I come back I do it as a professional and that’s where I am at now.
Q
Jarrett tell us why you think you have advantages over him in this fight?
J. Hurd
For one, I feel like I have more power. I feel I have the youth, I feel like I have the size and the length and those are pretty much the advantages I have, but like I said I have been in the game since age 15 and I’ve been in there with some of the best. I know the sparring is different from the fights but I’ve got a lot of experience and you’ll find a lot of these fighters out here on TV now so Austin Trout is going to be a scrappy fighter in there but like I said, we have planned eventually for this fight.
Q
Jarrett, you’ve gotten a lot of knockouts recently: you have a big knockout streak. He’s never been stopped as a professional so if this goes 12 rounds, how are you prepared for that?
J. Hurd
Well, I know I’m ready for 12 rounds, that’s never a question for me. For my past fights I feel I get stronger as the fight goes on. If you look back on every fight I had, I was never the fighter that gassed out, I was always the fighter that got stronger so 12 rounds are not an issue and my flag gets stronger as the fight goes on, so with that, I’m definitely prepared for 12 rounds and hopefully it ends earlier.
Q
Austin we know you have the in-ring experience and have fought top opposition, other than just the simple experience what do you see as your advantages over Jarrett?
A. Trout
I feel like I have the superior footwork. I like my mental capacity as far as being able to adapt and figure him out, but beside experience, I can fight to. Not just box, I can fight so I think he feels he maybe the stronger guy but I’m going to go ahead and test that and see if he truly is.
Q
Do either of you guys want to make a prediction for the fight?
J. Hurd
Yes, my prediction is, I feel like 9th or 10th round it should be stopped around that time.
Q
Jarrett you’re a champion making your first title defense against a very respected champ. Are you surprised at this climb? Where do you see yourself a year from now?
J. Hurd
I’m definitely surprised. Like I said boxing was something I always thought I wanted to do, something that came across giving another shot from my trainer and where I am today, people asked if I thought I could be world champion and I didn’t think so but it crossed my mind after the Oscar Molina fight. I know I was a prospect who didn’t have much amateur experience but when I beat an Olympian I felt like, dang man I can become world champion and my confidence just built from there. Looking now it seems 2018 will be some kind of unification definitely happening and I feel like I will be moving up a time or two in 2018 and 2019 and take over the 160-pound division.
Q
Erickson Hammer Lubin 18-0, 13 KOs from Orlando Florida. Both of these guys have the whole package. This is the can’t miss fight on the card although I think all three fights can’t miss. We have three terrific title fights on the card. I think that this one has really captured people’s interest. Lubin 2016 Prospect of the Year by both ESPN and Ring Magazine had an incredible 143 and 7 amateur record, turned pro in 2013 and has done nothing but win since then so first I’m going to throw this over to young undefeated challenger, Erickson “Hammer” Lubin.
Erickson Lubin
Well everyone should expect fireworks come October 14th. I’ve been dreaming about this fight for quite some time now. I asked for this fight. Some think it’s too early for me, I’m too young. I’ve been having a great camp out here in New Jersey and I can’t wait, just a week and some change away.
Q
I heard you say that Charlo’s opposition made him a paper champion. I’m wondering what made you say that, why would you downgrade his opposition?
E. Lubin
Well I was trying to get the Hatley fight since I was about 10-0. I’ve been asking my managers and I’ve been calling that guy out for quite some time.
I just feel like, to say you’re titled and it’s a guy like Charles Hatley, I don’t feel like Charles Hatley is that good of a fighter. So that’s the reason I said that.
I don’t feel like Charlo has ever fought anyone like me. And October 14 the world will definitely know what my name is, Erickson Lubin. They’re going to know who The Hammer is.
Q
What do you think are the victories or the opponents that you faced that have prepared you for somebody at the level of Charlo?
E. Lubin
Well his brother was fighting dudes that I already beat and already fought, like Norberto Gonzalez, Michael Finney. His brother was fighting those guys after me as well as Noe Bolanos who Errol Spence even fought after me.
I feel like I came up the right way. I fought the veterans real young. I fought Noe Bolanos at just 5 and 0. And I just came up real tough in my career.
If you look at anybody in boxing, it’s tough to fight guys with a winning record no matter what they look like. I make all my opponents look like nobody. So that’s why they might say they’re nobodies but I make them look like it.
I feel like I came up the right way. I fought guys with experience. I fought hard hitters. I fought all types of guys. So I’m definitely ready for this fight. I prepared myself physically as well as mentally.
Q
Is this the kind of fight that you believe that not only you win but you can get a knockout? Or is it the kind of fight where you’re thinking maybe this goes 12 rounds?
E. Lubin
Well anything can happen. I’m definitely preparing myself for a knockout. I want to get the knockout and make a big statement winning my first world title. But I can definitely go 12 rounds. I already been ten rounds before. I’m definitely ready. I trained for it.
Ever since I came into the pro game, I believed in myself and my team believed in me. And I said that I was a 12-round fighter ever since I got into the pro boxing game. So I’m definitely ready to go 12 rounds and I definitely want to make that statement and get a knockout.
Q
Why do you think you’re ready? You said you think you’re ready. But why do you, in your mind, know that you’re ready for this title fight?
E. Lubin
I know I’m ready because, like I said before, I came into the game and I fought no opponents with a losing record. Everybody I fought had a positive record, some undefeated guys, some guys who had just one loss. I fought all types of guys. I have a great amateur background. I won pretty much every amateur tournament out there. I’ve been undefeated since I was 13 years old.
I’m just confident. I’ve been training real hard and I’m just ready to show the world who I really am. I don’t think I’ve really showed the world who Erickson “Hammer” Lubin is yet.
Some of these fights has been a little bit too easy for me. And I’m glad they put this opponent in front of me, in Jermell Charlo, where I can actually showcase my talent, my real skills. I’m extra motivated to be fighting for a world title.
And come October 14 I’m ready to capture the title and make it a dream come true.
Q
What have you seen in his fights that gives you such confidence?
E. Lubin
It’s not about what he does. It’s about what I do. I believe in my skill. I’m very talented, I know this. And like I said before, it’s not what he does.
I think I’m a star already. I just proved it in my last fight at Barclays Center. Everybody loves me. I’m young, I’m 22 years old. I’m definitely trying to, like I said before, I’m going out there trying to make a statement and get the knockout.
But if it goes 12 rounds, I plan on dominating the fight. I’m ready to go 12 rounds. I spar way more than 12 rounds. I’m ready for it.
Q
Would you like to make a prediction to the fight?
E. Lubin
Erickson Lubin wins.
Q
I’m interested to know what you most respect Charlo as a fighter?
E. Lubin
He does have decent power. I’ve seen a few of his fights where he did what he had to do and knocked the guys out, like Charles Hatley of course, and John Jackson. So the guys they put in for him that he’s supposed to get out, that’s exactly what he did and he got them out. So I do respect that.
Q
Jermell is definitely the best fighter you’ve faced as a pro. I’m curious what type of fighters, what size you’ve been sparring against to prepare yourself for this?
E. Lubin
I’ve been sparring with all types of guys. I just sparred over here in New Jersey a couple 175 pounders. I’ve been sparring 168 pounders. I’m supposed to get some work with Daniel Jacobs in the next coming days. So I definitely have been getting the work in.
This has to be the best shape I’ve ever been in. Every fighter says that but it’s just up to me to show the world October 14.
Q
I was wondering if you can speak about your confidence in your team and in your corner as you head into your first title fight?
E. Lubin
They’re fresh to you guys but this is a team I’ve been with ever since I was young. My coach Jason Galarza, I’ve been with him for a very long time. He’s worked my corner since the amateurs. We click. He definitely knows how to read me. He knows how to read the other fighters. He’s smart.
We’re a family, a school of hard knocks. We’ve been together for ten years-plus so this is definitely who I need in my corner. It’s not that I want them in my corner. I need them in my corner.
Q
When you turned pro, you were fighting under the Iron Mike promotion banner. What did you learn, you know, while having Mike Tyson as your promoter?
E. Lubin
Mike, he taught me a lot of things. He taught me how to believe in my dreams, and go get what I want. And he definitely told me that if I stay at the pace that I’m at, he was trying to push for me to get a world title earlier. But it takes time. And I feel like there’s no better time than now.
And Mike Tyson definitely taught me how to deal with the media. Me being so young in the sport and how people can push your words or just all the negative stuff that people can do. But just told me to stay focused, always be in the gym, always working hard and dreams will come true of being world champion.
Q
Erickson no one on your resume has a losing record. Was that the result of you requesting it, was that the matchmaker? How did that transpire?
E. Lubin
I wanted the big names. I asked for it, but they were asking for too much money. It would be a fight for the promoters that they won’t make any money. So I had to ask him for them big fights for a while now. I’m grateful that I get this opportunity to fight. Once again on SHOWTIME, once again at Barclays Center. This time it’s for a world title. So I’m extra motivated and I can’t wait. I never wanted to fight anybody with a losing record. I wanted to come up the way I could. I’ve definitely been preparing for this moment.
Q
Lou, so obviously the plan is to have the winners fight each other. But with that being said, how does that materialize? What’s that going to look like in the not-too-distant future?
L. DiBella
Well we’re going from 6 to 3 and there are other ’54 pounders out there that are moving up the ranks. You’ve got a guy like Tony Harrison who made a sensational fight, when Jarrett stopped him in the ninth round. But you know, leading up to the ninth round, most people had Harrison ahead in the fight. There are plenty of guys out there to create matchups. Yes, I think the three guys here will factor into a further narrowing down of the division. This isn’t like an official tournament but basically what SHOWTIME Boxing has done is pay an awful lot of attention to the 154 pound fighters. In an effort to make great matchups, great fights and narrow down the division to the very best. And that’s what I know that Stephen Espinoza and the guys at SHOWTIME are going to try to do going forward.
Q
Lou, are you talking about a unification bout?
L. DiBella
I think so, yes. I think unification bouts are definitely coming and in the not-too-distant future.
Q
Erickson, some of the research that we’ve done for the fight coming up we discovered there is a special situation going on in your corner with an empty stool. Can you expound on that a little bit for us?
E. Lubin
I mean an empty stool is going to be for my cutman in heaven, Todd Harlib. I’ve been with Todd since I was about 13 years old and that was the guy that paid for all my tournaments and he brought me out to the tournaments I couldn’t afford when I was young, my parents couldn’t afford for me to go to. He used to pay big bucks for me to go out there. I used to feel like I wouldn’t want their money to go to waste. And this is definitely all of our dreams, including him. So I’ll definitely be looking at him after I win that title.
Q
What would you say is your greatest strength heading into this matchup and also what do you see in Charlo that you can take advantage of the most?
E. Lubin
My greatest strength would have to be my mental game and the way I adjust in the ring. I’m ready for any situation, I can bang, I can box, I can box and punch, so I can mix it up.
Q
Have you faced anyone using compares to Charlo style wise?
E. Lubin
Yes, I’ve seen his style plenty of times in the gym. Haven’t really faced anyone that fights like Charlo, but he hasn’t faced anyone that fought like Erickson Lubin.
# # #
The Premier Boxing Champions event is headlined by Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara defending against undefeated Terrell Gausha in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. Coverage on SHOWTIME begins live at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT and features hard-hitting unbeaten champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo taking on top contender Erickson “Hammer” Lubin and “Swift” Jarrett Hurd making his first title defense against tough former world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout.
