Tim Tszyu should be unhappy. Going down four times and then seeing your corner throwing in the towel is not a pleasant watch. But while he comes to terms with the career-threatening loss, it appears the disappointment may have seeped into other corners. Erickson Lubin was looking forward to a fight against ‘The Soul Taker’. But as things stand, with Tim Tszyu likely to wait sometime before returning, the chances of a potential matchup now appear bleak.

So ‘The Hammer’ seems to have decided to put the lids on their potential showdown. Invitations have been sent. Followers promptly joined as he shared the details over a few tweets. The Orlando, Florida-born Southpaw hasn’t fought since winning a regional title on the Canelo Alvarez–Jermell Charlo card. After his loss to Sebastian Fundora on the PBC-Amazon Prime inaugural, Tim Tszyu and Erickson Lubin exchanged a few matchup tweets. The latter subsequently messaged that a December fight had been agreed upon.

Erickson Lubin: Hopes at a Standstill

“The man who beats the man becomes the man,” wrote Lubin in the first tweet. That’s basically the standard definition for a lineal champion—the man who beats the man. So it is not exactly clear what Erickson Lubin was trying to say.

A few minutes later, Lubin returned. This time, he informed that the fight with Tim Tszyu was now a thing of the past. Back in July, slamming Tim Tszyu for avoiding him, ‘The Hammer’ tweeted that their teams had agreed upon a fight in the United States.

According to a few reports, there were plans for a final showdown between the two at an Australian location in December. However, the loss to Bakhram Murtazaliev seems to have put any further possibility in the doldrums.

Erickson Lubin had tagged Vergil Ortiz Jr. in his post.

There are a couple of alternatives

But fans had a few other suggestions. Let’s check out a few of those.

Naji Chill felt that ‘The Hammer’ could take on Murtazaliev. However, he felt that the faceoff shouldn’t be a hyped one. The ‘Cigar Talk’ host said, “I want to see you fight that Russian dude low-key.” But the next user seems to disagree; according to them, Lubin should boldly charge at the Russian champion and win the title. “Fight the Russian dude and snatch that belt, bro,” the user said.

But the next fan felt that the Tim Tszyu matchup was never destined to happen. The Australian always had Terence Crawford on his radar. “It was never on, bro. Tszyu was chasing Bud,” they said. But further added, “Why don’t you go 160? Take the Lara belt.”

Perhaps finding the situation laughable, the following fan taunted why Lubin hasn’t expressed any interest in pursuing a rematch with Sebastian Fundora. ‘The Towering Inferno’ had inflicted a second career loss on ‘The Hammer’ two years ago. This is what the fan said: “Why aren’t you looking for a rematch with Fundora though 😂.”

So if Erislandy Lara‘s name could make an appearance, why should Carlos Adames‘ name be left behind? “Fight Carlos Adames.”

After the Tszyu-Murtazaliev bout, while speaking with Fight Hook News, Erickson Lubin shared that a fight against the IBF champion, especially in front of a home crowd, in Orlando might be a good prospect.

Tim Tszyu will have to go back to the drawing board and weigh in the next available options to put his career on track. So probably a few months after he’s recuperated, a matchup with Erickson Lubin can be looked into. From ‘The Hammer’s perspective, in Tszyu’s absence, he could go for a title eliminator against either Errol Spence Jr. or Abass Baraou. If Vergil Ortiz Jr. has heard the call out, then Lubin could be on a game-changing fast track.

Who, in your view, could be an ideal matchup against Erickson Lubin?