“There’s a manager that I’ll never ever work with in my life, Rick Mirigian,” De La Hoya said in an interview with DAZN Saturday night. “He is the one that’s keeping the fight from happening.”
De La Hoya insisted he has wanted to make the Ortiz–Ennis fight for weeks and said the holdup was not coming from Golden Boy.
“I was ready to make this fight a month ago,” De La Hoya said. “I want the Vergil Ortiz–Boots fight, not as a promoter, but as a fan.”
Ortiz and Ennis have both traded messages on social media in recent weeks as talk of a matchup between the welterweight contenders intensified.
The situation escalated further when De La Hoya said the relationship between Golden Boy and Ortiz may already be beyond repair.
“From what he said, there’s no way I will work with him again,” De La Hoya said when asked about the possibility of working with Ortiz in the future.
Ortiz, however, remains under contract with Golden Boy, and De La Hoya emphasized that the legal agreement between the two sides remains in place.
“We have a legal binding contract,” De La Hoya said.
The disagreement has become one of the more public disputes in the welterweight division, with the proposed Ortiz–Ennis fight seen as a potential major matchup at 147 pounds.
For now, the outcome may depend on the arbitration process, which is expected to determine how the contractual issues between Golden Boy and Ortiz are resolved.
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