Judge Cristina D. Silva granted the motion by Golden Boy Promotions to move Vergil Ortiz’s lawsuit to arbitration in a ruling issued on Tuesday. Judge Silva determined that Golden Boy did not waive its right to arbitration found in its contract with Ortiz.
Ortiz filed the lawsuit in January alleging breach of contract on behalf of his promoter Golden Boy due to the allegations that Golden Boy had failed to secure a broadcast platform for his fights. Ortiz’s manager allegedly sought to secure a deal with Matchroom Boxing and/or other promoters in light of the claimed breach.
Golden Boy responded by suing Ortiz’s manager. In addition, it filed a Temporary Restraining Order seeking to prohibit Ortiz from signing a big money fight in April.
Judge Silva issued her ruling granting Golden Boy’s right to arbitration. Specifically she determined that since Golden Boy had sought to initiate arbitration, they had not waived the right. Despite the claim that filing a lawsuit against Ortiz’s manager waived its right, Judge Silva disagreed.
The Court made it clear that it was not looking at the substantive dispute. The issue before the Court was only whether the case could be sent to arbitration.
The Court’s analysis of the issue was that Ortiz did not claim that the arbitration clause was void or not within the parameters of the meaning of the contract or not within the parameters of this dispute. Ortiz claimed it was waived through the “intentional act” of filing a lawsuit against Ortiz’s manager. The Court noted that there’s no specific test on whether a party has waived its arbitration right in a contract, but to look at the totality of the actions. Here, Judge Silva determines that since Golden Boy moved to compel, it did not waive its right.
In addition to moving the case in arbitration, Judge Silva granted the request for interim relief “to allow for meaningful arbitration.” Thus, Ortiz cannot negotiate or contract with third parties until arbitration.
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