Erickson Lubin has finally spoken out publicly about the apparent negotiations that had gone on between his team and that of Tim Tszyu, revealing that the negotiations between the two parties abruptly broke down only to culminate in Keith Thurman becoming Tszyu’s next opponent. Weeks after the initial-announced PBC event that was to be headlined by Tszyu and Thurman, Thurman allegedly suffered an injury during training that left him unable to compete; resulting in Fundora stepping in and eventually beating Tszyu to become the unified WBC and WBO champion of the division.
Further threatening to completely diminish the reputation of Tim Tszyu (24-1, 17 KO’s) and his team are the actions of Fox Sports Australia host Ben Damon who was the first claim that Erickson Lubin (26-2, 18 KO’s) had withdrawn from talks with Tszyu to stage a fight in America. However, during a recent interview, Lubin revealed that negotiations broke down abruptly, followed by Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s) suddenly being announced as the opponent that Tszyu would fight.
“To clear everything up, I heard something about the [Tim] Tszyu fight and I said, ‘yes’,” Lubin told FightHype.com. “But I was never offered anything; no contract, no nothing. They told me is that a fight I would like to pursue and make happen, and I was like, ‘yeah. Hell yeah. I’ll fight that fight’.
“Couple weeks later, I see Thurman fighting him [Tszyu] so I’m like, ‘damn, what the hell is going on?’. They trying to throw out s*** that I was ducking the fight; I didn’t want to fight Tim Tszyu, [or that] I was offered something―[but] I was never offered nothing [anything]. I never got offered nothing―no contract, no nothing.
“I don’t duck no fights, I don’t duck no opponents―nobody. And he [Tszyu] got a world title. I would love to fight him.“
Shortly following Ben Damon’s report, Erickson Lubin had already come out to contradict the Australian sports host’s claims along with his coach Kevin Cunningham who was the first of Lubin’s team to clarify that here had been no negotiations between the two teams.
Glen Jennings, manager of Tim Tszyu, did not help matters in the slightest after refusing to directly confirm that it was Erickson Lubin that withdrew from negotiations.
“The Americans tend to wave their hands and get loud very early on and want to take a fight and say, ‘yes, we’ll take the fight’,” Jennings told FightHype.com several days after the news of Lubin’s ‘withdrawal’ from a potential bout against Tim Tszyu. “And then, for whatever reason―and I can’t even guess what their reasons are, they disappear and they’re nowhere to be found, or they find a reason not to fight.“
Notably, the question that led to Jennings’ answer seemed to purposefully omit a direct reference to Erickson Lubin, despite the topic having clearly pertained to Lubin’s supposed withdrawal―as no other fighter had been accused of pulling out of negotiations with Tim Tszyu in January.
Instead, Jennings appeared to more so reference former 154 lbs undisputed champion Jermell Charlo (35-2-1, 19 KO’s) who had been set to face Tim Tszyu in early 2023 before suffering an injury and staying out of the limelight for months before he was announced to be facing Canelo Alvarez (60-2-2, 39 KO’s) at super middleweight.
Not long after, Tim Tszyu seemed oblivious to any form of intentional misinformation on his team’s part as he remarked that he had been preparing to fight Erickson Lubin for seven weeks prior to Lubin’s ‘withdrawal’ from negotiations.
“I was preparing for him [Erickson Lubin] for seven weeks,” Tszyu told reporters in late January. “I’ve been preparing for a southpaw for seven weeks, and then I get the call that Lubin outpriced himself and this and that. And then they call me the next day and say Keith Thurman, T-Mobile Arena, booked. I’m like, how good’s this.“
The fact Tszyu claimed he had been preparing for seven weeks to face Erickson Lubin despite Lubin claiming he had not even signed a contract, suggests both 154 lbsers had been potentially misled by Tszyu’s representatives; which includes manager Glen Jennings, and No Limit head George Rose to which Tszyu is signed.
The report by Fox Sports Australia reporter Ben Damon on Lubin’s withdrawal appears to have come from either of the two aforementioned members of Tszyu’s team, Jennings or Rose, and now puts Tszyu’s own credibility into question as there appeared to be no contract signed for him to fight Lubin, making it doubtful or unnecessary that he would endure an entire training camp for a fight that was never sealed in the first place.
A key takeaway from both fighters’ interviews is the mention of Keith Thurman who became a sudden opponent for Tszyu in a short amount of time after Lubin was alleged to have pulled out of negotiations. Both fighters might have been led to believe they would fight each other, all while Thurman may have been considered as an opponent for Tszyu.
Though the truth continues to remain elusive, this entire case is reflective of the business in boxing is conducted these days, with managers and promoters seemingly not shying away from manipulating media outlets from behind the scenes, regardless of whether they mislead their own fighters, other fighters, or both.
