ATLANTA – The risk was well worth the reward for Erickson Lubin.

The 154-pound contender knocked out Jeison Rosario in the sixth round of their WBC elimination match Saturday night at State Farm Arena. The powerful southpaw’s stoppage of the former IBF/IBO/WBA champion was his most impressive victory of the six wins he has produced since Jermell Charlo knocked him out with one punch in the first round of their WBC title fight in October 2017 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Lubin (24-1, 17 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, dropped Rosario twice during the sixth round. Referee Jerry Cantu stopped their scheduled 12-rounder at 1:42 of the sixth round.

Lubin’s win was the co-feature of the Showtime Pay-Per-View show that featured Gervonta Davis and Mario Barrios in the 12-round main event.

Taking an optional fight against Rosario was risky business for Lubin, who already was the number one contender again for Charlo’s WBC belt. He was the mandatory challenger for Charlo’s championship when they fought 3½ years ago.

The Dominican Republic’s Rosario (20-3-1, 14 KOs) lost a second straight bout by knockout since his huge upset of Julian Williams in their 154-pound title fight in January 2020. Houston’s Charlo (34-1, 18 KOs) dropped Rosario three times and knocked him out in the eighth round of their title unification fight September 26 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Lubin overcame some trouble late in the third round to emphatically end his fight with Rosario in the sixth round.

A left-right combination by Lubin, followed by a jab, sent Rosario to his gloves and knees with about 1:55 to go in the sixth round. A stunned Rosario reached his feet, but the former champion was still disoriented.

Lubin sensed his opponent was ready to go and approached him accordingly. Lubin blasted Rosario with a left hand to his head that sent him to the canvas again at about the midway mark of the sixth round.

Cantu stopped the bout before Rosario got get up again.

After hurting each other in the second and third rounds, neither Lubin nor Rosario could land an impactful shot during the fourth or fifth rounds.

Rosario responded to Lubin hurting him toward the end of the second round by taking their fight to Lubin as soon as the third round started. With just over 20 seconds to go in that third round, a left hand by Rosario buzzed Lubin and made him take an awkward step in the center of the ring.

Lubin survived until the end of the round, but obviously was hurt by Rosario’s shot.

Lubin landed a left hand that backed up Rosario with just over a minute remaining in the third round. Another left by Lubin affected Rosario later in the third round.

Then, just before the third round ended, Lubin drilled Rosario with a right hook that wobbled Rosario and knocked him into the ropes. Rosario stumbled as he headed back to his corner.

Rosario was the aggressor in the second round and tried trapping Lubin against the ropes. Lubin slipped almost all of Rosario’s shots during that round, but he was cautious and didn’t throw many punches of his own.

Lubin tried to go after Rosario’s body during the first round, but he couldn’t get close enough to land effective punches downstairs. Rosario didn’t connect with any noteworthy punches in those opening three minutes, either.

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