The calendar year’s most significant fight in the junior middleweight division takes place Saturday night when Vergil Ortiz and Erickson Lubin square off in Fort Worth, Texas.

Set to be situated ringside to watch Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) and Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) will be Jaron “Boots” Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) and his promoter, Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.

Ortiz and Ennis have been calling for a clash for well over a year now, but the fight has never reached the finish line. Should Ortiz beat Lubin, which certainly won’t be an easy task, it’s expected to be all systems go for a slugfest between Ortiz and Ennis.

But Oscar De La Hoya, Ortiz’s promoter, is concerned that Ennis will get cold feet once he witnesses his rival’s performance firsthand at Dickies Arena.

“I welcome Eddie and Boots to see who the best 154-pound fighter is,” De La Hoya told reporters Thursday. “When you watch Vergil, you're always going to get an exciting fight. I'm glad they will be here watching the fight. I’m just afraid that when Boots sees him in person, he’s going to shy away from the fight. He’s going to tell Eddie, 'I don’t want Vergil next. Let me have another tune-up fight.’ Boots has another thing coming, because Vergil is going to come with everything.

“We want the fight, one thousand percent. We can’t make a fight until Vergil Ortiz wins. Let him win the fight Saturday, and then we’ll start negotiations right afterwards.”

The rivals were supposed to fight in February, but a deal couldn’t be reached once Ennis insisted the fight take place at 147 pounds, a weight class Ortiz has stopped competing in.

Instead, they went their separate ways, with Ortiz fighting on the date saved for Ennis and dominating Israil Madrimov for a unanimous decision in a performance better than Terence Crawford had against the Uzbek.

Ennis, meanwhile, became The Ring welterweight champion by stopping Eimantas Stanionis in April. Ennis made his 154-pound debut last month against Uisma Lima, a little-known contender he crushed inside of two minutes.

Ortiz should certainly have a harder path to victory against Lubin than Ennis did against Lima.

“Lubin is no walk in the park, and this is a dangerous fight,” De La Hoya said. “It could either make your career or derail it. Lubin is a guy who nobody wanted to fight. Vergil isn’t looking past him, and he has business to take care of.

“Vergil is on the brink of becoming a superstar. Vergil can become the guy in a deep weight class against guys who are waiting to get their shots. Vergil holds the keys right now, and a win against Lubin will solidify his status as the best 154-pounder out there. Beating Lubin will take him to a super fight, and that will lead him to superstardom. He has to win Saturday.”

The Ring ranks Ortiz No. 1 in its junior middleweight top 10. Lubin is the fifth-rated contender for a title that’s vacant.

DAZN will stream Ortiz-Lubin as the main event of a show scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET.