By Graham Ilford – Colossus Boxing: Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Erickson Lubin both successfully weighed in during their weigh-in for their 12-round junior middleweight headliner on Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The event will be shown live on regular DAZN.
Credit: Golden Boy Promotions / Cris Esqueda
The fight is billed as a test for WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) to show if he’s battle-ready for a clash with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in the first quarter of 2026. Vergil Jr., 27, must get past the more experienced Lubin matchup at 27-2 risk for him (27 to 2 risk) considered by many fans to be the crème de la crème, Ennis.
The rights weigh in, not the performance
Weighing results
Vergil Ortiz: 153.8 pounds
Erickson Lubin: 154 pounds
As Lubin mentioned this week“I’m looking into the plans that Vergil Jr. and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, have for a mega-fight against ‘Boots’ Ennis in 2026. Erickson sees a very findable fighter in Ortiz Jr., who lacks the experience necessary to take on a fighter at his level.
Golden Boy’s Gamble
I agree with Lubin. Golden Boy signed Texas native Vergil Ortiz Jr. throughout his nine-year career, and he hasn’t faced the harsh realities of competing against predators at 147 or 154. He has been kept in a protected mode and is only now facing someone who is going to expose him. Ortiz Jr. is only now enter the general population.
Lubin’s eyes tell the story
“Vergil doesn’t have the resume that I have at 154 pounds. He’s an undefeated fighter, but he doesn’t have the resume that I have,” Erickson Lubin said. Fight Hub TV about his fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. “If you ask me, he needs me more than anything. A guy like me, a guy who was at the top. He’s got some proof to do.
“So instead of that poster, where I enter his world, they go, ‘Dare to Enter,’ it’s more like ‘Judgement Day.’ That’s what I called it. It’s judgment day for me and judgment day for Vergil Ortiz,” Lubin said.
Lubin enters Saturday’s fight with momentum on his side with a three-fight winning streak in which he has looked golden. The improvements he has made since his ninth round injury stoppage against Sebastian Fundora on April 9, 2022 are impressive. He blew through these three fighters:
- Ardreal Holmes
- Jesus Ramos Jr.
- Luis Arias
In contrast, Ortiz Jr. forced to toil in his last two fights against Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk in razor-sharp fights in 2024 and 2025. The punishment that Vergil Jr. taken in those fights makes it hard to predict a positive outcome for him on Saturday night with Erickson should he get a war.
Veteran boxing columnist Graham Ilford brings dry humor and long-deserved perspective to the sport.
Last updated on 11/07/2025
