LAS VEGAS — Before Erickson Lubin and Ardreal Holmes Jnr show off their boxing skills in the ring, the two junior middleweight contenders put on an exhibition of their trash talking ability.

The two nearly came to blows on Thursday afternoon at Pound 4 Pound Gym in what was a media workout to promote their IBF junior middleweight title elimination fight on May 10 at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.

An impromptu staredown at mid-ring turned into a shouting match, which saw the two briefly separated before resuming hostilities.

“You only got six knockouts bro, you ain’t no knockout artist,” Lubin, 26-2 (18 KOs), of Orlando, Florida said to Holmes, of Flint, Michigan.

“How many times you been knocked out?,” Holmes, 17-0 (6 KOs), shot back.

“I’m gonna knock you the fuck out,” said Lubin.

After a few more moments of jaw jacking, which included Lubin reminding Holmes that he had beaten him once before, in the final of the 2013 National Golden Gloves as an amateur, Lubin shoved Holmes in the chest, at which point the two men had to be separated for good.

Holmes left the ring, but the animosity was far from done. “If I’m a bitch, come prove I’m a bitch,” said Holmes, to which Lubin responded “All they’re gonna do is break us up. You’re not gonna do nothing.”

“You’re food, I promise you,” said Holmes.

As Holmes walked out the door, Lubin opined “Your best sparring partner is Claressa Shields,” a reference to the real life sparring sessions that were depicted in the Shields bio-pic The Fire Inside.

The next time the two will meet at center ring will be in an actual fight in the main event of a show that will air live on ProBox TV.