Jesus Ramos Jr. eager to show ring IQ vs. Lubin

Erickson Lubin is reminded of himself when he sees 22-year-old boxing sensation Jesus Ramos Jr. The so-called Hammer was almost the same age six years ago when he mounted an unsuccessful challenge against the more experienced Jermell Charlo.

Now, Ramos and Lubin will fight in the co-main event Saturday night before Charlo faces Canelo Alvarez in the highly anticipated main event at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.

Charlo, the undisputed junior middleweight champion, stalled Lubin’s ascent to prominence with a first-round knockout on Oct. 14, 2017. Lubin hopes to deliver a similar blow to Ramos’ promising career.

“I feel like they hang that Charlo loss over my head a lot,” Lubin, 27, says. “I took that fight at 22 years old. Ramos is doing the same thing. He’s daring to be great, fighting someone like myself at 22 years old. 

“I think history repeats itself, just in favor. But I know he’s coming ready to fight. I’m also coming ready to fight and I got experience under my belt. I fought the top dogs. And I just want to show on Saturday that I am elite and I am one of the top dogs in this division, if not the top dog.”

Charlo, who is jumping two weight classes to fight Canelo in the 168-pound division, is the top 154-pound fighter in the world. He holds all four belts, after all.

Undefeated Jesus Ramos Jr.

Jesus Ramos Jr. is 20-0 with 16 knockouts. Lubin is 25-2 with 18 knockouts. ESPN ranks Ramos as the 10th best junior middleweight in the world, five spots behind Lubin. Charlo and Brian Castano had been removed from those rankings because of inactivity.

Despite his perfect record, Ramos realizes he still has much to prove. In part because of his age, Ramos’ boxing IQ has been questioned by critics. The Casa Grande, Arizona, native is eager to prove those cynics wrong in the 12-round bout, which will be shown nationally on SHOWTIME PPV.

“I’ve seen stuff that I don’t have a lot of ring IQ,” he said. “So I’m looking to show my ring IQ. I’m looking to show different dimensions to my game,  a different version of Jesus Ramos, different things that I can do in there.”

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Former world champions Yordenis Ugas and Mario “El Azteca” Barrios will fight for the interim WBC welterweight title in the Canelo-Charlo undercard. Young middleweights Elijah Garcia and Armando Reséndiz will serve as the opener for the pay-per-view card at 8 p.m. ET.

All of the fighters on the undercard are looking to prove something. In Ramos’ case, he hopes to take another step closer to a championship fight.

Jesus Ramos Jr. looks to dominate

“It’s really important that I dominate because Lubin is so tough and has given guys like Sebastian Fundora a lot of trouble,” Ramos said. “It would be a big statement and a big win for my resume.

“He’s a good fighter, and I know he had a strong camp. He looks ready. So I’m ready for the best version of Lubin. We’ll see what happens on Saturday night.”

 Lubin hopes to derail Ramos’ progress, just as Charlo derailed his early title hopes.

“Hat’s off to Ramos,” Lubin said. “He’s daring to be great. He’s young, he’s talented and he’s respectful  (Ramos) ain’t up here trying to talk (trash). He wants to let his hands do the talking on Saturday, and I respect that.”