Vergil Ortiz’s fallout with Golden Boy Promotions has seen him sidelined throughout 2026 thus far, but the Texan now looks set for his first outing of the year, poised to face a former world champion on David Benavidez’s undercard in December.
Ortiz has boxed just two rounds since February 2025, those coming in a second-round knockout of Erickson Lubin last November – which looked to have tee’d up an in-demand showdown with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for earlier this year.
However, a contractual dispute between Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions saw the contest collapse, with Ennis since moving on from his rival and instead focussing on a super-welterweight undisputed run against his fellow 154lb champions.
Unable to land a fight with Ennis, the 28-year-old Ortiz has teased a potential move to middleweight, with the undefeated knockout artist now linked to a possible comeback bout against former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
Speaking to The Ariel Helwani Show, Oscar De La Hoya, founder and promoter of Golden Boy, confirmed the truth of those reports and said that the undercard of Benavidez’s well-documented unification bout with Michal Cieslak is the target.
“There has been rumours about Keith Thurman. We’re finalising that deal there and hopefully we can have him on the Benavidez card in December, which will be great on DAZN. I believe in Arizona.”
It was understood that Benavidez’s three-belt cruiserweight title unification was set for Saturday, December 12, in Phoenix, Arizona. Although, recent reports suggest that the show could instead move to December 5 at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
