Tim Bradley Tells Lubin To Retire After Ortiz Jr. KO Loss

Tim Bradley wants Erickson Lubin to retire or move up to 160 after he was “obliterated” in two rounds last Saturday night by WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Tim says Lubin looked like he was hit with a “nuke” by Vergil Jr. with the way he crumbled in the second round.

Chin Gone, Future Gone

The former world champion Bradley notes that this was the third time the 30-year-old Lubin (27-3, 19 KOs) has been viciously stopped in the last eight years, since 2017. What was different about this loss was that it came against a fighter, Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs), who isn’t a big puncher. He’s someone who scores his knockouts by volume, like a bigger version of William Zepeda.

Lubin’s punch resistance looked gone in the fight. He posted up against the ropes and let the 27-year-old Ortiz shell away at him with eight unanswered punches in round two, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.

“Lubin, you need to go ahead and hang them up, man. If you want to keep making that bread for your family, you keep doing what you’re doing,” said podcaster Tim Bradley on his channel, reacting to Erickson Lubin’s second-round TKO loss to Vergil Ortiz Jr. last Saturday night.

Stuck on the Ropes Again

It would help if Erickson didn’t choose to fight with his back against the ropes. That’s what he did in the ninth-round stoppage loss to Sebastian Fundora on April 9, 2022, and again last night against Ortiz Jr.. Still, even if he chose to stay in the center of the ring, it’s questionable whether he’s got the punch resistance to compete against contenders at 154. Again, Vergil Jr. isn’t the biggest puncher, yet he made easy work of Erickson.

“Hit With a Nuke” Moment

“You’ve been knocked out three times like that. You’re getting destroyed. You’re getting obliterated. It was like you got hit with a nuke last night. I mean, Ortiz ain’t even be hitting like that. You need to cough it up or go to 160, bro. Do something different. You’re done at 154,” said Bradley.

Moving up to 160 won’t be a picnic either for Erickson, as the fighters in that division have just as much power as they do at 154. If Lubin can’t withstand the shots from Vergil Jr., he’s not going to handle getting hit by middleweights Yoenli Hernandez, Janibek Alimkhnuly, and Carlos Adames.

Retirement might be the best option for Lubin unless he wants to stick it out until the bitter end and be content with working as a trial horse for the younger contenders to use to build their hype.