Boxing
Antonio Tarver picks Lubin to upset Vergil Ortiz Jr. tonight
Published
11 months agoon
By Elliot Raines: Former two-division world champion Antonio Tarver picks Erickson Lubin to defeat Vergil Ortiz Jr. tonight. on DAZN’s 12-round main event in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tarver claims that in his last two fights against Israil Madrimov and Serhiy Bohachuk, he noticed some flaws in Ortiz Jr.’s game, which he believes Lubin (27-2, 19 KO) can exploit. Vergil Jr. (24-0, 21 KO) just took two 12-round decisions against these two fighters.
The 27-year-old Ortiz Jr., promoted by Golden Boy, hasn’t looked impressive in either fight unless you ignore the punishment he received over the first eight rounds.
Tonight Vergil Jr. will defend his interim WBC junior middleweight title against 30-year-old Erickson on DAZN at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The main card goes live at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT.
Upset Central” in Fort Worth
“I’m calling that in this case he will be nervous, brother. If Lubin plays his best match, focused and focused, with his conditioning intact, he has learned from these defeats to have a great performance. He is prepared for it,” said boxing commentator Antonio Tarver. Fightselecting Erickson Lubin to defeat Vergil Ortiz Jr. tonight.
While some fans on social media believe Tarver didn’t make his pick, he seems to be calling it like he sees it, in the Howard Cosell fashion. Vergil Jr. He has NOT looked very impressive in either of his last two fights against Madrimov and Bohachuk. Ortiz Jr. he took shots all night, eating them right in the head. His face was similar “The Elephant Man” lumpy and swollen after those two games.
Bohachuk likely beat Ortiz Jr, fell twice and was forced to box in the championship rounds. Judges gave Vergil Jr. by a majority 12-round decision in that August 10, 2024 fight, but fans overwhelmingly saw it as a gift to the A-side fighter. It would be bad for the sport if Ortiz Jr. won tonight by a similar decision.
“I know everyone is hyped for Ortiz Jr., but his last two fights, one against Madrimov and the other [Serhii Bohachuk] I saw some things in this fight earlier that showed me he still had something to work on. I don’t think he’s the complete fighter they think he is,” Tarver said.
Investigating Vergil’s flaws
When it comes to style, Ortiz Jr. it’s a finished product. He’s kind of a tramp, 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 what Ortiz Jr. will be like. always because he lacks hand and foot speed. What’s more, he spent too many years training under coaches who focused on turning him into an attacker. Trying to change now would probably break him as a fighter.
In a clash with boxers Vergil Jr. he will struggle, as we saw in his narrow 12-round unanimous decision victory over Madrimov on February 22, 2025 in Riyad. He won with scores of 115:113, 115:113 and 117:11.
Madrimov got gaslighted at the end of the fight because of the move he made. Later, his promoter, Eddie Hearn, revealed that he was recovering from acute bronchitis before the fight.
Tarver’s last word
“I think he can box quite well. He’s not as good a boxer as people think. A real skillful boxer gives him problems, especially if he can counter-attack. Lubin comes in with the right style,” Tarver said.
Last update: 11/08/2025
You may like
Boxing
Sebastian Fundora Wins by Late Stoppage Against Ermal Hadribeaj
Published
3 hours agoon
October 18, 2026
Sebastian Fundora needed almost every second of 12 rounds to stop Ermal Hadribeaj, finishing his stubborn challenger with a left hand after spending much of the fight battling him at close range.
The stoppage came at 2:59 of the final round at The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) retained his WBC junior middleweight title for the fourth time, while Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs) suffered his first professional defeat.
This was hard work for a champion who entered as a heavy favorite. Hadribeaj got underneath Fundora’s long arms, crowded him, and landed hard punches, making the early rounds competitive. Fundora followed him too often without creating the space needed to make his reach effective.
A long left briefly buzzed Hadribeaj in the second, but it didn’t persuade him to stay outside. He recovered and went straight back to forcing the fight inside.
Holding became a recurring feature. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Hadribeaj in the third round, then took another in the 11th as the challenger increasingly tried to prevent Fundora from working.
Between those penalties, Hadribeaj gave the champion plenty to handle. His harder individual shots competed with Fundora’s greater activity, and he continued coming forward even as the body punches accumulated.

Fundora eventually made that close-range fight work for him. Short punches and uppercuts gave him scoring opportunities, while his sustained attack downstairs made Hadribeaj pay for staying within reach.
The later rounds belonged more clearly to the champion. Hadribeaj could still land, but he was being outworked, and his attempts to crowd Fundora increasingly ended in holding rather than effective offense.
Fundora kept punching through the final round before landing the left hand that dropped and stopped Hadribeaj just before the bell. The finish rewarded his persistence, although the difficult early rounds showed how little he had done to keep the challenger at a distance.
About the author
Boxing 24/7 Wire
Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.
Boxing
Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj Live Results and Fight Updates
Published
3 hours agoon
October 18, 2026
Sebastian Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) stopped Ermal Hadribeaj (23-1-1, 8 KOs) at 2:59 of the 12th round to retain his WBC junior middleweight title for the fourth time. Hadribeaj made the early rounds competitive by getting low, forcing his way inside and landing hard shots while denying the champion room to use his reach.
Short punches, uppercuts and a sustained body attack helped Fundora take control as he began outworking the challenger at close range. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted points from Hadribeaj for holding in the third and 11th rounds as the challenger increasingly tried to tie up the busier champion.
With just one second remaining, a left hand dropped Hadribeaj and brought the fight to an end after Fundora’s pressure and body punching had worn him down.
Super middleweight Armando Resendiz (17-3, 11 KOs) defeated Koen Mazoudier (16-5-1, 6 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision in a hard-fought fight. The judges scored it 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93, giving Resendiz a wider victory than the competitive action suggested.
Mazoudier kept coming forward and throwing, making Resendiz work at close range and enjoying success through the middle rounds. Resendiz answered with the heavier punches, hurting the Australian with right hands and left hooks as the two traded throughout.
A sustained attack in the final round left Mazoudier reeling and close to being stopped, but he survived and continued firing back until the bell. Resendiz earned his first victory since losing to Jaime Munguia, while Mazoudier made him fight for it in his U.S. debut.
Marco Romero (16-0, 14 KOs) stopped Braulio Matias Ferreira (8-4, 3 KOs) in the first round of their scheduled eight-round super middleweight fight. The 20-year-old Romero immediately pressed the attack, digging to the body and landing right hands upstairs at close range.
A right hand and left hook to the body helped set up a sweeping right to the chin that dropped Ferreira hard into the ropes. Ferreira beat the count, but he was in no condition to continue, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Romero gave the veteran little chance to settle, keeping him under attack throughout the brief contest. It was the Kansas prospect’s third consecutive first-round stoppage.
Super middleweight Jaime Enrique Osuna Diaz (12-0, 5 KOs) kept his unbeaten record with an eight-round majority decision over Cristian Cangelosi (13-1-1, 5 KOs). The judges scored the competitive bout 77-75, 77-75 and 76-76 on the Sebastian Fundora–Ermal Hadribeaj undercard.
Osuna applied pressure from the start, using his activity and body punching to make Cangelosi work. His best round came in the fifth, when he hurt Cangelosi twice with straight right hands but crowded his own punches while trying to finish.
Cangelosi fought back and had a strong seventh round, landing a big shot to keep the outcome in doubt heading into the eighth. Neither fighter scored a knockdown, with Osuna’s pressure and cleaner work in key stretches earning him the narrow victory.
Boxing
Tony Bellew Analyzes Daniel Dubois Knockout Victory Over Fabio Wardley in Rematch
Published
9 hours agoon
October 17, 2026
Daniel Dubois sent out a big statement to the rest of the heavyweight division after his knockout win over Fabio Wardley.
The two British heavyweights met at The O2 Arena on Saturday in one of the most anticipated rematches of the year, following on from their epic first battle back in May.
On that occasion, ‘DDD’ had to recover from two early knockdowns to earn the 11th round TKO win to become WBO heavyweight champion, but it was a much more dominant display from Dubois this time around.
The rematch saw ‘DDD’ drop Wardley inside the opening 20 seconds of the bout, before landing even more heavy shots over the next several minutes, forcing the referee to stop the action in the second round as Dubois retained his WBO heavyweight title.
Ahead of the bout, one man that was picking Wardley to cause the upset and be victorious was former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who felt that the Ipswich man was going to get the job done inside six rounds.
Bellew was happy to hold his hands up and admit he was wrong though, as he posted on social media to heap praise on Dubois for his triumph.
Demolition! Well done to Daniel Dubois.. 👏🔥👏
— Tony Bellew (@TonyBellew) October 17, 2026
“Demolition! Well done to Daniel Dubois.”
Following his win, Dubois has already made it clear who he wants to target next, revealing in his post-fight interview that he wants to meet IBF champion Filip Hrgovic in a unification, in what would be a rematch after ‘DDD’ won their first encounter back in June 2024.
Sebastian Fundora Wins by Late Stoppage Against Ermal Hadribeaj
Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj Live Results and Fight Updates
Tony Bellew Analyzes Daniel Dubois Knockout Victory Over Fabio Wardley in Rematch
Trending
-
Boxing2 days agoShakur Stevenson Reveals Why Devin Haney Talks Collapsed: Wasted Everybodys Time
-
MMA2 days agoDiego Lopes discusses the logistics of his upcoming lightweight move
-
Boxing2 days agoDubois vs Wardley 2: Heavyweights Clash at Career Heavies for World Title Rematch
-
Boxing1 day agoTim Bradley Calls Out Biggest Duck in Boxing for Devin Haney vs Shakur Stevenson Collapse
-
Boxing1 day agoDevin Haney Targets Key Opponent Following Shakur Stevenson Fight Talks Breakdown
-
MMA1 day agoKayla Harrison says she might not have returned without Amanda Nunes
-
MMA1 day agoUFC Edmonton preview show: Are Mike Malott, Joaquin Buckley in must-win territory?
-
Boxing2 days agoMoses Itauma Shares Candid Thoughts on Filip Hrgovics Victory in Boxing Match


