Multiple outlets report that super welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr has filed suit against Golden Boy Promotions, seeking the termination of their “Professional Rights Agreement” alongside compensatory
damages for “various breaches of the PRA and GBP’s economic interference with its prospective economic opportunities moving forward.”
Curse you, saad, and your superior reaction times.
News emerged recently that GBP’s partnership with DAZN had expired “nearly three months ago,” with tonight’s Raul Curiel vs Jordan Panthen event serving as a “one off.” Per the copy of the lawsuit Dan Rafael obtained, “the PRA allowed Ortiz to terminate it if, for any reason, GBP’s contract with its long-term broadcaster, DAZN, ended.” GBP argued that “because it was negotiating a new DAZN agreement, Ortiz could not terminate the PRA.”
Per Lance Pugmire, Ortiz has retained attorney Gregory Smith, the same legal counsel who oversaw Canelo Alvarez’s attempt to leave Oscar De La Hoya’s employ. Smith alleges that De La Hoya’s actions violate the terms of the PRA, specifically pointing out his ongoing feud with Turki Alalshikh, his behind-the-back negotiation of a potential Jaron Ennis fight with Matchroom and DAZN, and a bevy of “willful, malicious, intentional, oppressive and despicable conduct.”
Ortiz (24-0, 22 KO) fought twice in 2025, taking home his second straight unanimous decision over Israil Madrimov in February before returning to his finishing ways with a two-round hatchet job of Erickson Lubin in November. He and Ennis subsequently faced off in the ring, but De La Hoya tried repeatedly to walk the promised showdown back before recently insisting that, despite Ortiz manager Rick Mirigian’s protestations, they were “moving on.”
I am nobody’s idea of a legal expert, but the whole “the deal expired three months ago but it still counts because we’re negotiating a new one” bit strikes me as a hard sell on his own. It will also be extremely funny if they award Ortiz damages, because that would officially make De La Hoya an incompetent dumbass in the eyes of the law.
