Golden Boy Boxing attached is Arbitration “Statement of Claim” against Vergil Ortiz as part of its attorney’s declaration in support of its Motion for Temporary Restraining Order.
Golden Boy makes three claims against Ortiz (specifically his manager Rick Mirigan). The claims are for Breach of Contract, Interference with Contract and Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.
Ortiz filed his lawsuit claiming that due to Golden Boy losing its broadcast rights with DAZN, it had breached his contract. Golden Boy filed the Statement of Claim giving its side of the story.
Golden Boy
Golden Boy stressed that it had the exclusive right to promote all of Ortiz’s boxing activities and the exclusive right to negotiate all of his matches.
It notes that it was able to negotiate Ortiz’s biggest purse thus far.
Mirigan allegedly started to shop Ortiz’s next fight despite the fact that Golden Boy had the exclusive rights. Despite the fact that Mirigan is the primary target, Golden Boy states that Ortiz did nothing to stop Mirigan from continuing to seek out potential landing spots for his next fight. Thus, he is also at fault for potentially breaching his contract. These actions occurred in the first quarter of 2025.
After Ortiz’s fight with Erickson Lubin, Jaron Ennis was brought into the ring for a staredown and the inference that they would fight next.
Golden Boy learned that Ortiz was in negotiations with Ennis to fight but they had not been contacted. The assumption is that Mirigan was brokering a deal with another promotional company.
Golden Boy alleges that the Breach of Contract by Ortiz would exceed $5 million. They claim that sharing Ortiz’s intentional interference with Golden Boy’s Broadcast Agreement would incur damages of over $10 million. This is based on the purported sharing of Golden Boy confidential information to third parties. Golden Boy also claims that its Interference with a Prospective Advantage claim states that due to Ortiz’s actions it has interfered with its relationship with DAZN. Golden Boy claims losses exceeding $10 million.
While the allegations are harsh against Ortiz, I would infer that Golden Boy just wants Ortiz back so they can negotiate the Ennis deal. This is one of those things where Golden Boy has invested in a young fighter and just when they are about to pay off with a huge fight, he is trying to bolt. Claims that Ortiz or his manager have shopped the Ennis fight without Golden Boy would invoke a request for an injunction which would stop a fight from happening short of a full blown trial.
MPO will continue to follow.
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