Unbeaten junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz has gone to court in Nevada attempting to break his deal with Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions and ensure a fight with Jaron Ennis later this year.
Unbeaten junior middleweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. has sued Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions in an attempt to earn his freedom to make a deal for a PPV main event fight with Jaron "Boots" Ennis.
Following the path that future hall of famer Canelo Alvarez did several years ago, Ortiz has retained the same law firm and lead attorney that represented Alvarez in his highly publicized legal battle against De La Hoya and Golden, a case that ultimately was won by the fighter.
Alvarez’s lawsuit, filed in California federal court in the fall of 2020, sought $280 million in damages and centered on Golden Boy’s alleged failure to honor contractual obligations to pay him per the agreement. Ultimately, the court determined that De La Hoya and Golden Boy were responsible for paying Alvarez under the terms of the contract, regardless of separate disputes involving broadcasters or co-promoters attempting to get purse money. Following that ruling, De La Hoya agreed to release Alvarez from the remaining bouts on their contract, allowing him to move on independently.
While Ortiz now appears to be following a similar legal path, there is a fundamental difference. Ortiz is using Southern California lawyer Gregory Smith, who filed Thursday in Nevada Federal Coury. And, on behalf of Oritiz is citing alleged contractual breaches and promoter interference for the Ennis deal.
The crux of the dispute involves a planned late-March Las Vegas bout between Ortiz and Ennis, who is the former unified welterweight champion. The fight was expected to headline a jointly promoted Golden Boy–Matchroom Boxing card and was viewed as one of the most significant match-ups available at 154 pounds.
According to Ortiz, De La Hoya disrupted an agreement that had already been put in place. The lawsuit alleges that Golden Boy halted progress on the Ennis fight in an effort to renegotiate financial terms with broadcaster DAZN and Matchroom, despite the bout having been effectively agreed upon.
Smith wrote,
“Although Mr. De La Hoya had [a] legendary boxing career, he has a history of substance abuse and rocky relationships with other boxing promoters. In recent years, he has unprofessionally attacked his peers and other boxing luminaries on social media platforms, including weekly Instagram video rants in which he often concludes by telling various boxers and promoters to f*ck themselves.
“To protect Ortiz from the ramifications of Mr. De La Hoya’s behavior, and other boxing industry forces and factions, the PRA contained a provision (Sec. 3(k)) requiring GBP to work in good faith with other promoters as necessary to negotiate with Ortiz’s preferred opponents, and also allowing Ortiz’s representatives to directly negotiate with other promoters. The same clause prevented GBP from engaging in negotiations behind Ortiz’s back by requiring GBP to fully disclose the terms of any written offer and requiring Ortiz to be a signatory to any agreement related to him fighting.”
Smith continued later in the filing,
“In a December 2025 meeting between GBP and Ortiz’ representatives, GBP presented an offer for the bout with Mr. Ennis, and insisted – despite a PRA requirement that Ortiz be offered at least three potential opponents for any bout – that if Ortiz did not agree to the fight that he would be “benched” and not presented with any other opportunity. GBP also threatened that it would publicly blame Ortiz and his team for the fight with Mr. Ennis not happening if Ortiz did not agree to the sole offer presented,” Smith wrote.
“Although GBP did not disclose it to Ortiz during the meeting, Ortiz later came to learn, through public comments of Mr. Hearn, that there had already been a meeting between GBP, Matchroom Boxing, and DAZN that resulted in a written agreement related to terms for the Ortiz/Ennis fight. GBP never presented this document to Ortiz, again breaching its commitments in the PRA.”
Earlier this week, De La Hoya took to social media to state that he was “moving on” from the Ennis negotiations. He suggested alternative opponents for Ortiz, including unified junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora and former welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr., while also leaving the door open for renewed talks with Matchroom. Ortiz’s manager, Rick Mirigian, countered those remarks, reiterating that a deal to fight Ennis was already in place and that Ortiz wants the fight to proceed without further renegotiation.
Friday afternoon Golden Boy Promotions issued a press release responding to the lawsuit. The company acknowledged the legal action but rejected Ortiz’s claims outright, stating that he is receiving “bad advice” from his legal team and management. Golden Boy said it intends to aggressively defend the lawsuit, enforce its contractual rights, and is confident a judge will rule that Ortiz and his team—not the promotion—are in breach of contract.
De La Hoya went further by going on social media here to blast Ortiz and his manager Rick Mirigian for interfering with his negotiations for the proposed Ennis bout.
One key to keep an eye on is if Smith can convince a judge to give Ortiz "injunctive relief" on the basis that the contract no longer exists with Golden Boy, then Ortiz could be free to accept the deal with Matchroom and DAZN and fight Ennis.