Vergil Ortiz and his legal team have filed a Motion of Opposition to Golden Boy Promotions’ temporary restraining order in an effort to move forward with his career.
Specifically, a mouthwatering showdown with Jaron “Boots” Ennis – and without Golden Boy along for the ride.
In a 22-page filing filed with the U.S. District Court in the state of Nevada, Ortiz, 24-0 (22 KOs) has challenged Golden Boy’s claim that his efforts to face Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs) without the company’s involvement would cause irreparable harm.
In meeting the deadline to oppose Golden Boy’s granted TRO (in addition to its own counter lawsuits against Ortiz and manager Rick Mirigian), Ortiz looks to have the order removed and for all parties to go their separate ways.
“GBP now comes to Court seeking a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent VO (Vergil Ortiz) from agreeing to participate in a highly anticipated boxing match against Jaron “Boots” Ennis to be promoted by a third party promoter,” Greg Smith, lead counsel for Ortiz, stated in a filing obtained and reviewed by BoxingScene. “GBP plays the victim and claims that VO’s agreement for a bout against Mr. Ennis would cause GBP irreparable harm.
“The harm to GBP – if any – has solely been caused by GBP itself. It is not ‘harm” in the legal sense in that it does not flow from any improper action from VO, but rather VO’s efforts to work with other promoters following termination of the PRA (Promotional Rights Agreement) is the natural consequence of the terms to which GBP agreed.”
Ortiz’s opposition filing was accompanied by declarations from Mirigian, Smith, DAZN COO Ed McCarthy and the boxer himself.
As previously reported by BoxingScene, Ortiz filed a complaint against Golden Boy earlier this year, citing breach of contract and interference with economic advantage. The unbeaten WBC interim 154lbs titlist has contended that – per a provision in his contract – their promotional agreement once Golden Boy’s output deal with DAZN expired last December 31 without official notice of renewal.
“Had GBP simply refused clause 10(g) or timely signed an extension with DAZN, Ortiz would not have possessed the right to terminate the PRA,” argued Smith. “GBP cannot prove that it would suffer irreparable harm from VO’s contemplated bout with Mr. Ennis, and cannot satisfy the other Winter factors.
“This Court must dissolve the temporary restraining order and deny GBP any further relief.”
The initial filing by Ortiz was made to undo any damage caused in previous talks between Golden Boy, Matchroom Boxing (Ennis’ promoter) and DAZN to move forward with the fight. His team has since worked to move forward with the fight, after Golden Boy chairman and co-founder Oscar De La Hoya publicly claimed that Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn did not meet his alleged deadlines and that other options were on the table.
The claims were only part of what Ortiz and his team referred to as damaging remarks, both to the proposed fight and his career as a whole.
Among the backers sought to ensure sufficient financial incentive for all parties was Turki Alalshikh, head of Riyadh Season and who has funded most of boxing’s biggest events since his emergence in the sport in 2023. Alalshikh purchased Ring Magazine from De La Hoya in 2024, and has evolved the publication into a social media giant as well as an active promotion. Ring has both presented its own events and had its branding prominently featured in several other shows beginning with the first fight between Chris Eubank Jnr and Conor Benn last April.
However, De La Hoya’s personal actions – particularly through his viral “Clapback Thursdays” series through his Instagram channel – has left a sour taste among many. It is widely believed that De La Hoya has left Golden Boy on the outside looking in with his rants, particularly against Dana White and his emergence in the sport through Zuffa Boxing, of which Alalshikh is a financial partner.
“It was the hope of Ortiz that the bout, with Mr. Ennis, which was considered to be one of the best matchups in the sport, would attract the eye of Turki Alalshikh, a boxing fan and the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority,” cited the complaint. “At Mr. Alalshikh’s direction, Saudi Arabia has been a significant sponsor of boxing matches in the last few years, both in Riyadh and outside of K.S.A., such as the September 2025 bout between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.
“Instead of working “in good faith with all boxing promoters to assure that Boxer maximizes his exposure and revenue opportunities,” Mr. De La Hoya publicly attacked Mr. Alalshikh and Zuffa Boxing, Mr. Alalshikh’s new partnership with the leadership of the UFC. In December 2025, Mr. De La Hoya posted to his Instagram an expletive filled rant insulting the project and all involved. Through this, and other actions, GBP actively undercut any opportunity to maximize VO’s potential earnings from Saudi-backed sponsorships.”
As previously reported by BoxingScene, Golden Boy later learned that Ortiz and his team moved to finalize the deal with Ennis, without the company’s involvement. It was widely believed that the fight was due to be announced late last week, to take place April 18 on DAZN pay-per-view (or its Ultimate package, for those who subscribe to the upper tier, all-inclusive package) from Las Vegas.
Golden Boy found out through a third party - TGB Promotions, who merely questioned why they’d run the fight just two weeks ahead of their own May 2 joint pay-per-view, headlined by the Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez-David Benavidez unified cruiserweight title fight. It was at that point when Golden Boy brass instructed its legal team to take immediate action.
A hearing is set for this Friday to hear final arguments, at which point a ruling will be made.
Golden Boy’s can counter Ortiz’s opposition to the motion but must be done within the court’s deadline and before a final ruling is made.
While Golden Boy has contended that Ortiz's action harm its ability to negotiate a new deal with DAZN, the company was granted another one-off show. Golden Boy announced its planned March 14 show as official on Tuesday, marking its second card of the year out of contract. Golden Boy also presented a January 16 show from Palm Springs, California.
Meanwhile, Ortiz’s team cited dozens of other cases along with two separate statutes to argue that Ortiz should be permitted to move forward with his career even as this case remains on the court docket.
Among the packages recently presented to Ortiz was a proposed deal with Matchroom, who would serve as lead promoter for the targeted April 18 clash. Per the three-fight agreement, Ortiz could stand to make as much as $20,000,000.
“Undeterred, many promotors reached out to VO, through Mr. Mirigian, seeking to sign VO to promotional agreements of various structures,” the complaint read. “For example, 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.”
Additionally, Ortiz’s team argues that Golden Boy’s decision to bench Ortiz without its involvement as well as its active lawsuit against Mirigian contradicts the demand for arbitration to legally settle their differences.
“VO had to right to terminate the PRA and timely exercised the same,” his team argued. “If the Court believes that VO has any likelihood of prevailing on either his claims of breach or the exercise of this terminate rights, then it cannot be “clear” that the PRA has any ongoing impact on the parties and GBP’s claims are “questionable” – if not outright unlikely.
“For the reasons set forth above, Vergil Ortiz Jr. respectfully requests that the Court dissolve the TRO and deny Golden Boy Promotions any further provisional relief.”
