By Keith Idec

HOUSTON – Erickson Lubin continued his comeback as impressively as his opponent should’ve suggested Saturday night.

The 23-year-old junior middleweight contender stopped Zak Attou in the fourth round of their WBC elimination match on the Jermall Charlo-Brandon Adams undercard at NRG Arena. Lubin (21-1, 16 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, won a third straight fight since Jermell Charlo knocked him out in the first round of their WBC title fight in October 2017.

The strong southpaw knocked down France’s Attou (29-7-2, 7 KOs) in the fourth round and their scheduled 12-rounder was stopped soon thereafter. Attou acknowledged after the fight that he suffered an injury to his right biceps toward the end of the third round, though it appeared Lubin was well on his way to hurting and stopping him before that happened.

The 37-year-old Attou hadn’t lost in four years before Saturday night, but mostly had fought a low level of opposition.

Lubin hurt Attou with a straight left hand near a neutral corner early in the fourth round. He attacked Attou once he realized his opponent was hurt and unloaded a barrage of power punches that eventually sent Attou to the canvas, through the bottom rope.

Attou got to his feet, but his trainer threw in the towel before the action could resume. Referee Jon Schorle stopped the action at 1:19 of the fourth round.

Attou tried to keep away from an aggressive Lubin throughout the third round, when Attou appeared to suffer an injury to his right arm. He complained to his handlers when he came back to his corner following that round.

Lubin connected with several hard, straight left hands during the second round. Attou tried to hold at one point because Lubin had hurt him.

Lubin landed a hard left to Attou’s body in the first round, but Attou otherwise was mostly able to keep away from him.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.