Vergil Ortiz Sues Golden Boy Amid Collapsed Ennis Negotiations

Interim WBC super welterweight champion Vergil Ortiz has filed a lawsuit against Oscar De La Hoya’s promotional company, Golden Boy Promotions.

The 27-year-old American accuses Golden Boy of breach of contract and interference with his ability to earn income in the midst of negotiations for a fight with interim WBA super welterweight titleholder Jaron Ennis.

Ortiz is represented by attorney Gregory Smith, who previously handled Saul “Canelo” Álvarez’s case against Golden Boy over breach of contract.

In the lawsuit, Smith notes that Ortiz has the right to terminate his agreement with Golden Boy if the company’s contract with DAZN expires. According to Smith, that deal ended on December 31.

“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.

GBP’s breaches have caused Ortiz to suffer millions of dollars of losses in fight purses and opportunities for other earnings, such as individual sponsorships and endorsements, that come with in-ring activity and success.

GBP by engaging in the aforementioned acts and omissions, and/or by authorizing and/or ratifying such acts, engaged in willful, malicious, intentional, oppressive and despicable conduct, and acted with willful and conscious disregard for the rights, welfare, and safety of Ortiz, thereby justifying the award of punitive and exemplary damages in an amount to be determined at trial,” Smith wrote.

Previously, Vergil Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) and Jaron Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) agreed in the ring to fight each other immediately after Ortiz’s victory over Erickson Lubin. Intense negotiations have been ongoing ever since.

During that time, Ennis’s promoter Eddie Hearn stated that they respect the opposing team, but that the terms proposed by De La Hoya were unacceptable. Hearn said that they had initially agreed to a 55–45 split of the total event budget in favor of the winner, and that the other side had seemingly accepted those terms.

Some time after that agreement, De La Hoya announced that they now wanted a 60–40 split. He argued that Ortiz has other options for his next fight — specifically mentioning Errol Spence and a possible bout against him in Texas.

Afterward, the promoter declared that they were “moving on,” but Ortiz’s manager Rick Mirigian responded that Golden Boy did not have the authority to dictate purse splits, and that all further negotiations would be conducted through him.