Vergil Ortiz Jr. faces another tough challenge in Erickson Lubin as champions continue to avoid him

After more than six years of being recognized as one of boxing’s top rising prospects, unbeaten 27-year-old junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. enters arguably the biggest fight of his career on Saturday, and one that could finally put him on the doorstep of a major fight. 

Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) will return to his home base of greater Dallas when he headlines a fight card (DAZN, 8 p.m. ET) from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, in a 12-round bout against former title challenger Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) for the interim WBC belt at 154 pounds. A victory would likely set Ortiz up for a showdown against unbeaten Jaron “Boots” Ennis, a former unified welterweight champion, in one of boxing’s most anticipated fights of 2026.  

Considering the extended lull in the boxing calendar over the second half of 2025, this weekend’s junior middleweight duel simply can’t come fast enough. But the bigger impact of the bout has to do with Ortiz’s up-and-down career in recent years, where everything from illness-induced layoffs to big names ducking him have slowed down his growth. 

It’s not that Ortiz is lacking the kind of quality wins to justify the hype that has long surrounded him. It’s just that he has so consistently missed out on the kind of step-up, breakthrough fight that would’ve propelled him to stardom and status as a world champion.

That’s why Ortiz has found himself so excited and motivated to face the 30-year-old Lubin, a battle-tested puncher whose only pro defeats have come against elite foes like former undisputed champion Jermell Charlo and former unified titleholder Sebastian Fundora (the latter of which was boxing’s best fight in 2022). 

“[Lubin] is a dangerous fight because he has intellect, he has experience and he has power,” Ortiz said at the October kickoff press conference to announce the fight. “He likes to fight. I’ve seen his fights before, he legitimately goes in there to fight people. I respect that about him but he’s also a smart fighter, as well. When you have both of those in the equation, that’s when you have a dangerous fighter.”

Six years ago, Ortiz burst upon the scene at 147 pounds and was seen by many as a future champion in waiting with power in both hands and an ability to box just as strong as his willingness to trade on the inside. Stoppage victories over the likes of Mauricio Herrera, Antonio Orozco, Maurice Hooker and Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavliauskas followed, although Ortiz was noticeably held back from the title picture by being unable to draw fights against the welterweight titleholders. 

Just as it seemed as if Ortiz was about to break through, a recurring and scary battle with the muscle disorder rhabdomyolysis caused him to withdraw from multiple fights and eventually sit out a full two years. The illness, which affected his weight cuts, also forced the 5-foot-10 Ortiz to move up to 154 pounds. 

Less than two years into his new experiment at junior middleweight, however, Ortiz has become an instant force, even though his inability to lure titleholders into fights continued to follow him. Ortiz began with a pair of first-round knockouts against Fredrick Lawson and Thomas Dulorme before getting up off the canvas twice to edge Serheii Bohachuk (a replacement for the injured Tim Tszyu) via majority decision in a bonafide fight-of-the-year contender in 2024.

Then, in February, Ortiz scored his biggest win to date when he relied on his boxing skills to outpoint former titleholder Israil Madrimov. The performance was as mature a victory as Ortiz has produced and instantly placed him, despite not owning a world title, in consideration among the best fighters in the division. 

Ortiz talked about his long road to the Lubin fight during a recent DAZN-produced “Face 2 Face” digital series that paired the fighters against one another across a table.

“You fought for a world title against Charlo in your third year. I didn’t get that opportunity,” Ortiz told Lubin. “I was trying to get that opportunity. I just didn’t get it. I was trying to fight Hooker and whatever 147-pounders there were. I didn’t get to fight [Terence] Crawford or [Errol] Spence; they were trying to fight each other. I just didn’t get those opportunities, man. You can think what you want but that’s just what it came down to.”    

If it were up to Ortiz, he would’ve already fought Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) earlier this year. In fact, Ortiz has been very outspoken about the fact that he claims he signed a contract to be Ennis’ debut opponent at 154 pounds only for the native of Philadelphia to switch course and face relatively unknown Uisma Lima, whom Ennis knocked out in less than one round last month. 

Ennis turned out to be just another big name that avoided him. But Oscar De La Hoya (who promotes Ortiz) and Eddie Hearn (Ennis’ promoter) have both shared their interest in making a non-title fight between them next year in which the winner would become the uncrowned champion of the division. 

But once Ortiz signed on the dotted line to fight Lubin, any future talk of an Ennis fight was silenced until he gets a chance to handle his business in the ring. 

“I don’t want to talk about anyone if it’s not Lubin,” Ortiz said. “I’m here for Lubin and I’m not fighting anyone else that’s not Lubin.”

Ortiz may not have been able to draw any of the current titleholders at 154 pounds — a group which includes Xander Zayas (WBO), Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF), Abass Baraou (WBA) and Fundora (WBC) — but a victory over Lubin would put him on the fast track to potentially becoming the division’s top fighter.  

“[Lubin] has been in there with the best and I just want to fight the best. That’s what it is,” Ortiz said. “I don’t have anything against anyone, I’m just a competitive person. I respect anyone that gets into that ring, especially right now. It has been really hard to get fights. I haven’t fought since February and we have been trying. I’m really glad we got one, especially with [Lubin] calling me out. 

“It’s going to be electric.”