Some may not remember it, but once upon a time, Erickson Lubin had all the hype behind him.

Skills, speed, power. You name it, Lubin had it. Yet, even with so much going for him, the 30-year-old has failed to win a world title. That won't change when he takes on Vergil Ortiz Jr. on Saturday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, where no major title will be on the line.

However, some believe it's do or die for him.

“This is a very, very tough fight,” Andre Ward said on All The Smoke Fight. “If Lubin doesn’t show up the way he’s supposed to, this could be it for him. Good dude in the sport, but if he doesn’t get it right this time, this might be it for him.”

In the past, Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) has bounced back from bad nights at the office. He went on a seven-fight win streak following his first-round stoppage defeat against Jermell Charlo in 2017. He repeated that process after losing to Sebastian Fundora in 2022, winning three in a row leading into Saturday.

However, Ortiz, The Ring's No. 1-ranked 154-pouinder, is on a roll. He captured arguably the two best wins of his career in his last two appearances, beating both Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov.

Ward has an enormous amount of respect for Ortiz and what he’s been able to accomplish. However, he’s hoping that Lubin can put his past failures behind him and pull off the upset.

“I like Lubin, and I pull for him,” Ward said. “But he just can't seem to get over the hump.”