According to boxing insider Dan Rafael, Ortiz Jr. Golden Boy’s promoters, Eric Gomez and Oscar De La Hoya, were having trouble completing the deal with Mirigian. Technically they are on the same side, both working with Ortiz Jr, but the money is holding things down.
It’s going to be on DAZN PPV. If the expectations are unrealistic given the buys it will bring in, it is risky for Golden Boy and DAZN to bid.
While Vergil Jr. looked impressive and knocked out Erickson Lubin in the second round on November 8, 2025, the win didn’t seem to significantly increase his casual fan reach for a clash with Ennis to bring in huge PPV numbers.
“The issue in making the match is between Eric Gomez and Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy and Rick Mirigian, who is the manager of Vergil Ortiz. They are having a war in the boardroom over the money for that fight,” said Dan Rafael. Probox fans on the negotiations for a fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. for early 2026.
It’s risky for Golden Boy and DAZN to offer a big purse to Ortiz Jr. to offer without having enough of a record in big fights. Ennis is not very popular either. He is not a PPV attraction due to a combination of lackluster opposition and limited social media presence.
“If they can’t get it worked out, the fight isn’t going to happen. Rick took a scorched-earth attitude about it,” Rafael said. “And Oscar and Eric are not going to lie down about it. And they bicker back and forth like cats and dogs.”
It might actually be better than Ortiz Jr. not taking the fight with Ennis because if he loses it could take years for him to rebuild just to get to where he is now. Again, he’s not popular with casual fans for the same reasons Ennis isn’t. He doesn’t post often on social media; opponents throughout his career were little-known, middle-of-the-road fighters.
If the fight doesn’t happen, Ortiz Jr. slowly continues to build his popularity which are fighters like Lubin, Thomas Dulorme and Fredrick Lawson. In time, with enough victories over these kinds of fighters, Vergil. Jr. will become popular. It will just take him longer than fighters who fight the best and take risks.
