Lubin Faces “Last Strike” Vs Ortiz Jr.

Roy Jones Jr. and Andre Ward believe that Saturday’s fight will be Erickson Lubin’s “last strike” in his career if he loses to Vergil Ortiz Jr. in their headliner on DAZN.

Credit: Golden Boy / Cris Esqueda

It would be the 30-year-old Lubin’s third defeat and would potentially end his chances of ever receiving another world title opportunity.

Ward Sees No More Rebuilds Left

The podcaster and former two-division world champion Ward notes that Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) has gone through two rebuilds in the past after his stoppage losses to Jermell Charlo in 2017 and Sebastian Fundora in 2022. He was younger then, and had time to climb his way back.

“Beating somebody like Vergil, I’d basically be replacing him,” said Erickson to Golden Boy about what he stands to accomplish by beating Ortiz Jr.

Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) and Lubin will headline in a 12-round fight this Saturday, October 8th, at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

“This might be Lubin’s third strike. If he strikes out this time, he might not get another shot. I hope Lubin can catch a break, but it’s going to be tough because Vergil Ortiz is peaking right now. I think he’s the best matchup for a guy like ‘Boots’ Ennis,” said Roy Jones Jr. to All the Smoke.

In theory, Lubin could rebuild if he does it quickly and takes risks by facing top-10 level contenders at 154. But the question is, could he defeat good enough fighters to claw his way back? Erickson would need to beat some of these top-notch guys to come back quickly:

• Brandon Adams
• Israil Madrimov
• Tim Tszyu
• Charles Conwell

“You’ve got Lubin, who always seems like he’s in a rebuild. He had the Charlo situation. He’s in a rebuild. Then he had the Sebastian Fundora, and he got stopped in the ninth round,” said Ward. “Vergil Ortiz is peaking. That’s the best I’ve seen him in his last fight. Erickson Lubin has to fight the perfect fight. Not because he can’t take a shot. I believe this is a last strike for Lubin.”

Lubin’s Long Road Since Charlo

It’s not that Lubin is always on a rebuild. The problem is that he spent too much time coming back from his first-round knockout loss to former undisputed 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo on October 14, 2017.

In hindsight, Erickson should have never fought the then 27-year-old Charlo. Lubin was just 22 and had fought no one near the level of Jermell going into that fight. That was the first mistake. The second was burning through five years of tune-ups before stepping it up against ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundora on April 9, 2022.

Lubin does have a good chance of dethroning Vergil Jr. on Saturday night, as long as he boxes him the way Madrimov was doing earlier this year. He can’t stand and fight Ortiz Jr. because he doesn’t pack enough power to win that kind of fight. ‘The Hammer’ Lubin has got to move just enough to stay out of the way of Ortiz Jr., but he can’t overdo it the way Madrimov did.  He’ll gas out and be at the mercy of Vergil’s shots.