Erickson Lubin is traveling to Fort Worth with a point to prove.
The junior middleweight faces Vergil Ortiz in the biggest fight of his 29-fight career desperate to get over the hump and become the world champion many predicted he would be when he turned pro in 2013.
Ortiz is unbeaten in 23 fights and has impressed against the likes of Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk – both over 12 rounds. The pair of distance wins came after the Texan previously iced veterans Thomas Dulorme and Fredrick Lawson inside of a round each.
After edging then-unbeaten Jesus Ramos in September 2023, Lubin didn’t fight again until this past May 11, when he stopped Ardreal Holmes.
A high-quality bout is expected this Saturday, and Lubin knows the stakes are high in their DAZN main event from Dickies Arena in Ortiz’s home region of Fort Worth, Texas.
“It means a lot,” he admitted. “Fighting a guy like Vergil Ortiz, who is another undefeated fighter [as were Ramos and Holmes] and he has a lot of backing behind him, DAZN, Golden Boy, all these guys, and they want to make a big fight between him and [Jaron] ‘Boots’ Ennis. “This means a lot to me, because my goal is to become the No. 1 at 154lbs and they’ve basically got him as the Ring Magazine No. 1 fighter at 154lbs and I totally don’t agree with it, because he hasn’t been at the weight class long enough, and the competition that he’s fought isn’t really the same. Our resumes are a little different. I feel like I’ve been way more battle-tested and been in there with way more tougher competition, beat the better guys at 154lbs and I just feel overlooked. This right here means everything to me because I know beating someone like Vergil Ortiz will catapult me and catapult my career and just have me right back at the top, not just as one of the top guys but the top guy at 154lbs.”
Lubin, 27-2 (19 KOs) weighed around 147lbs for his first three pro fights, but subsequently settled at 154lbs where he has established himself. The talented southpaw from Orlando, Florida has fought the likes of Sebastian Fundora, Ishe Smith, then-undefeated WBC champion Jermell Charlo, Terrell Gausha, and Jeison Rosario.
“The resume speaks for itself,” Lubin added. “So I know on November 8, this is a very high stakes match up, there’s a lot at stake for both fighters. It’s not only a big fight for myself but it’s a big fight for Vergil Ortiz, because he’s looking to fight a guy like ‘Boots’ Ennis but he’s never been in with anyone of my calibre. Respect to Madrimov and respect to Bohachuk, but those guys aren’t battle-tested like I’ve been. Those guys are good fighters but to me they’re not the No. 1 guys or best guys at the weight class. Those guys were looking to prove themselves just as Vergil Ortiz was, and he did. This is a very exciting match-up. The fans are in for a treat. The whole boxing world is in for a treat. This is an important match-up for us both.”
With many look toward a fight between Ortiz and Ennis, Lubin is under no illusions that his task is to spoil that proposed party
“I don’t really care,” Lubin said, when asked if he was being overlooked. “Whether or not they’re looking past me or to the ‘Boots’ Ennis match-up, he has to go in and fight myself and I know what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to complete in this sport, and me not winning a world title that I dreamt off since I was a kid. I’m not looking at myself like a stepping stone. I’m not looking myself like I’m a test dummy for him. I’m not a test dummy for Jaron Ennis.
“I know they want to make that match up [Ennis-Ortiz], it’s like a fantasy match-up, but to me that shit doesn’t go always as planned. You look past someone like me and I’m the type of dude to fuck up all those plans. So I really don’t care if they’re looking towards the Jaron Ennis match or if ‘Boots’ was looking towards the Vergil Ortiz match up, I know that he’s going in there to fight me. He’s going in there to fight Erickson Lubin and he’s going to get the best of me, and I feel like on Saturday night I’m going to come out victorious and I’m going to do it in spectacular fashion.”
Lubin said there has not been trash talk between he and Ortiz because they have plenty of respect for one another.
“There’s respect on both ends because it’s a high-level match up,” Lubin said. “I don’t need to go in there and try selling a fight through lip, we go in there and we sell the fight by making it a good fight. We don’t have to go in there and talk shit about each other, downplay each other’s character or whatever the case maybe. On Saturday night, once the bell rings, if you know you know. It’s one of those high-level match ups. I like fights like this. The world’s tuned in and I’m ready. I hope they’re not overlooking me like the world is, or a lot of people are. If they’re overlooking me, they’re in for a rude awakening and on Saturday night I’m looking to leave with my hands raised.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
