Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Jaron Ennis: Crucial hearing on Friday will decide whether fight can happen

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The legal feud between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya continues to escalate.
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A key hearing on Friday will determine the fate of Vergil Ortiz Jr.'s highly anticipated fight with Jaron "Boots" Ennis.

Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), Ortiz's promoter, successfully obtained an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) this past Friday, which precludes Ortiz from entering into third-party promotional or fight contracts until further order of the court, even specifying that a bout being negotiated between Ortiz and Ennis could not proceed. Ortiz opposed GBP's TRO in writing on Tuesday.

Ortiz initially enacted a legal challenge against Golden Boy on Jan. 16. Part of that complaint asked a Nevada court, by way of declaratory relief, to confirm that his contract with Golden Boy had been terminated because Golden Boy no longer has an exclusive media rights agreement with DAZN — a material incentive of Ortiz's promotional contract. Golden Boy's lawyer, Richard P. Cestero, argued that Ortiz is not a free agent because, although Golden Boy's deal with DAZN hasn't been renewed, the two sides have agreed on the material terms of an extension and are finalizing a long-form agreement.

Per court documents obtained by Uncrowned, Ortiz's lawyers will argue at Friday's hearing that presiding Judge Cristine D. Silva should ultimately deny Golden Boy's motion and lift the TRO because, among other reasons, Golden Boy cannot show it will suffer any irreparable harm if Ortiz is allowed to fight while the proceedings are ongoing.


Golden Boy lawyers argued in their TRO motion that DAZN would not renew their media rights deal if Ortiz was allowed to proceed with an Ennis bout without their involvement. According to a signed declaration from DAZN COO Ed McCarthy, however, that is not the case.

"DAZN remains open to seeking to agree and enter into a long-term distribution agreement with GBP on commercially reasonable terms, whether or not GBP has Mr. Ortiz under contract," McCarthy said.

Additionally, McCarthy appeared to contest a claim made by Cestero that material terms for a longterm broadcast agreement between Golden Boy and DAZN had been agreed upon. McCarthy said that material terms were "well progressed."

"The PRA contained a provision requiring GBP to work in good faith with other promoters as necessary to negotiate with VO’s preferred opponents, and also allowing VO’s representatives to directly negotiate with other promoters. The same clause prevented GBP from engaging in negotiations behind VO’s back by requiring GBP to fully disclose the terms of any written offer and requiring VO to be a signatory to any agreement related to him fighting."

It's claimed by Ortiz's side that he wasn't able to maximize his revenue opportunities because of Golden Boy founder Oscar De La Hoya's inability to work in good faith with Turki Alalshikh. Alalshikh is a major financial backer of the majority of top boxing events at the present time, and it's argued that De La Hoya's criticism of the Saudi financier's new venture, Zuffa Boxing, through his Instagram series "Clap Back Thursday," hurt Ortiz's earning capacity.

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Turki Alalshikh (left) is boxing's biggest financier at the present moment.
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Ortiz's contract also requires Golden Boy to offer him three potential opponents for any bout, but his manager, Rick Mirigian, was allegedly told in a meeting with Golden Boy that if they did not accept the promoter's offer to face Ennis, Ortiz would be "benched" and not presented with any other fights.

A meeting between Golden Boy, Eddie Hearn's Matchroom and DAZN resulted in an agreement related to terms for an Ortiz-Ennis fight. Per Ortiz's lawyer, Greg Smith, Ortiz's contract stipulates that Golden Boy must present the document for the agreement of terms to Ortiz, which they failed to do, and therefore breached their agreement with the boxer.

Smith says that the court's temporary restraining order has prevented Ortiz from signing a lucrative promotional agreement.

"Ortiz was offered a three-bout agreement from Matchroom Boxing that included the April 18, 2026 bout against Mr. Ennis referenced in GBP’s Motion. Although VO’s exact compensation under that offer is dependent on the outcome and economic performance of the bouts, VO would receive at least twelve million dollars ($12,000,000). However, given Matchroom’s projections for the economics of the offered bouts, it is likely that VO’s earnings would approach twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for the three fights.

VO was also offered another three-bout deal by a different promoter that guaranteed him sixteen million dollars ($16,000,000), plus upside based on ticket and pay-per-view sales of the bouts. But for the Court issuing the TRO on February 13, 2026, one of those agreements would likely already be signed."

Golden Boy sent a cease and desist letter to Matchroom on Jan. 16, threatening legal action if Matchroom sought to sign an agreement with Ortiz. The promoter is also suing Ortiz's manager, Mirigian, for Interference with Contract and Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.

Smith will ask the court on Friday to dissolve the emergency TRO and deny GBP any further provisional relief. Should his arguments prove successful and the TRO is lifted, Ortiz could well be headed for an April 18 bout with Ennis on a show promoted by Matchroom, which Uncrowned understands to have been days away from an announcement until GBP obtained a TRO.

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