According to boxing insider, Dan Rafael, Ortiz Jr’s promoters at Golden Boy, Eric Gomez and Oscar De La Hoya, are having problems working the deal with Mirigian. Technically, they’re on the same side, both working with Ortiz Jr, but the money is holding things up.
It’s going to be on DAZN PPV. If the expectations are unrealistic given the buys it’s going to bring in, it’s risky for Golden Boy and DAZN to offer.
While Vergil Jr. looked impressive, knocking out Erickson Lubin in the second round on November 8, 2025, the win did not appear to significantly expand his casual fan reach for a clash against Ennis to bring in huge PPV numbers.
“The issue in making the match is down between Eric Gomez and Oscar De La Hoya from Golden Boy and Rick Mirigian, who is the manager for Vergil Ortiz. They’re fighting a war in the boardroom over the money for that fight,” said Dan Rafael to Proboxingfans about 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 be offering a huge purse for Ortiz Jr. without him having enough of a track record in big fights. Ennis isn’t super popular either. He’s 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 is not going to happen. Rick has taken a scorched-earth attitude about it,” said Rafael. “And Oscar and Eric are not going to lie down about it. And they’re bickering back and forth like cats and dogs.”
It might actually be better if Ortiz Jr. does not take the fight with Ennis, because if he loses, it could take years for him to rebuild just to get to where he’s at now. Again, he’s not popular with casual fans for the same reasons Ennis isn’t. He doesn’t post on social media often; opponents have been little-known, middle-of-the-road fighters throughout his career.
If the fight doesn’t happen, Ortiz Jr. can continue to slowly build his popularity fighting guys like Lubin, Thomas Dulorme, and Fredrick Lawson. In time, with enough wins over these types of fighters, Vergil. Jr. will become popular. It’ll just take him longer than fighters who are fighting the best, taking risks.
