By Elliot Raines: Former two-division world champion Antonio Tarver picks Erickson Lubin to face Vergil Ortiz Jr. tonight. on DAZN in their 12-round main event in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tarver says he saw some flaws in Ortiz Jr’s game in his last two fights against Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk that he believes Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) can take advantage of. Vergil Jr. (24-0, 21 KOs) just took a pair of 12-round decisions against those two fighters.
The 27-year-old Golden Boy promoted Ortiz Jr. didn’t look impressive in either fight, unless one ignores the punishment he took through the first eight rounds.
Tonight Vergil Jr. defends his WBC interim junior middleweight title against 30-year-old Erickson on DAZN at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The main card begins at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT.
Upset Central” in Fort Worth
“I call upset central on that one, bro. If Lubin comes in with his best game, locked in and focused, with his conditioning intact, he’s learned enough from those losses to have a big breakout performance. He’s ready for it,” boxing commentator Antonio Tarver said. Battle hypeselect Erickson Lubin to Vergil Ortiz Jr. to defeat tonight.
While some fans on social media believe Tarver is off on his pick, he seems to be calling it like he sees it, in Howard Cosell fashion. Vergil Jr. has NOT looked overly impressive in either of his last two fights against Madrimov and Bohachuk. Ortiz Jr. walked in shots all night and ate them straight to the head. His face looked straight ‘The Elephant Man’ after those two games, lumpy and swollen.
Bohachuk probably beat Ortiz Jr, fell twice and was forced to box in the championship rounds. The judges chose Vergil Jr. given a 12-round majority decision in that fight on August 10, 2024, but fans overwhelmingly saw it as a gift for the A-side fighter. It would be a bad look for the sport if Ortiz Jr. win a similar decision tonight.
“I know everybody’s high on Ortiz Jr., but his last two fights, the one with Madrimov and the other fight (Serhii Bohachuk) before that, I just saw some things in that fight that showed me he still has some development to do. I don’t think he’s the complete fighter that they think he is,” Tarver said.
Study Vergil’s flaws
Style-wise, Ortiz Jr. the finished goods. He is a plodding type, a fighter with a style reminiscent of Julio Cesar Chavez. He lacks hand speed and mobility, and will likely never be anything other than what he is now, a slugger.
This is how Ortiz Jr. always will be, because he lacks hand and foot speed. Plus, he had too many years of training with trainers who focused on making him a puncher. Trying to change now will likely break him as a fighter.
Against boxers, Vergil Jr. struggles, as we saw in his close 12-round unanimous decision over Madrimov on February 22, 2025 in Riyadh. He won with the scores 115-113, 115-113 and 117-11.
Madrimov gassed late in the fight because of the movement he did. It was later revealed by his promoter, Eddie Hearn, that he was recovering from acute bronchitis going into the fight.
Tarver’s final word
“I think he can box well. He’s not as good a boxer as they think; a real smooth boxer gives him trouble, especially if that boxer can set up those counter punches. Lubin comes in with the right style,” Tarver says.
Elliot Raines has been covering British and European boxing since 2010. Known for his sharp pen and low tolerance for hype, Raines analyzes the sport’s politics, promoters and paper champions with dry precision.
Last updated on 11/08/2025
