Judge Cristina Silva has made her decision in the dispute between Golden Boy Promotions and its star fighter Vergil Ortiz.
Oscar de la Hoya’s fight firm has many top tier athletes in its roster, from William Zepeda, Floyd ‘Kid’ Austin, and Ryan Garcia, among many others. However, few appear as promising as Ortiz, who, at 27 years old has put together a flawless record of 24-0 (22 KOs) including big wins over Serhii Bohachuk, Israil Madrimov, and Erickson Lubin.
The crux of the dispute involves a desired fight against Matchroom boxer Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis — one of the best bouts boxing could produce — and an argument that if Ortiz cannot secure that fight then it would cause him “irreparable harm,” according to Uncrowned at Yahoo Sports.
A fight between the two super welterweights has been simmering for a while, and they even stared one another down after ‘Boots’ entered the ring following Ortiz’s thumping win over Lubin. Ennis does not have as broad a resume as Ortiz, but has beaten the likes of Sergey Lipinets, Thomas Dulorme, and Eimantas Stanionis en route to a pro record of 35-0 (31 KOs).
Golden Boy, meanwhile, obtained a temporary restraining order in a Nevada court which means Ortiz is prohibited from entering third-party contracts for the Ennis fight, or, indeed, any others. This restricts the fighter’s ability to consider and sign a three-fight promotional deal with Golden Boy rival company Matchroom, worth an estimated $12 million to $20 million, Yahoo Sports writes.
“Ortiz is cautioned that he may not negotiate or contract with third parties for future fights before the arbitrator addresses the parties’ dispute that gave rise to this action,” Judge Cristina Silva said today, according to Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion and the MMA Draw newsletter.
As Arnold says, with the judge ruling in favor of Golden Boy, it means Vergil “can’t negotiate a new fight.”
It is unclear what this means for the proposed Ortiz vs Ennis fight. It seems unlikely, though, that such a match could proceed next.
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