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 “wiped out” 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 “nuke” by Vergil Jr. with the way he crumbled in the second round.

Chin gone, future gone

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 was against a fighter, Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs), who is a big hitter, came. He’s someone who scores his knockouts by volume, like a bigger version of William Zepeda.

Lubin’s striking resistance disappeared in the fight. He posted against the ropes and had the 27-year-old Ortiz shelling him with eight unanswered punches in round two, forcing the referee to step in and stop the fight.

“Lubin, you gotta go ahead and hang ’em up, man. If you want to keep making that bread for your family, you keep doing what you’re doing,” podcaster Tim Bradley says on his channelin response 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 a 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 doubtful he has the push resistance to compete against contenders at 154. Again, Vergil’t Jr.

“Hit With a Nuke” moment

“You’ve been knocked out like that three times. You’re getting destroyed. You’re getting wiped out. It was like you got hit with a bomb last night. I mean, Ortiz doesn’t even hit like that. You gotta cough it up or go to 160, bro. Do something else. You’re done at 154,” Bradley says.

Moving up to 160 won’t be a picnic for Erickson either, as the fighters in that division have as much power as they do at 154. If Lubin doesn’t take the shots of Vergil Jr. can’t resist, he’s not going to handle being 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 settle for working as a test horse for the younger contenders to use to build their hype.