Vergil Ortiz Jnr Returns Against Keith Thurman After a Year Away
Vergil Ortiz Jnr’s return against Keith Thurman is a meaningful reset after a year away: it gives the unbeaten junior middleweight a high-profile opponent and opens a move toward the middleweight division. Their December 5 fight in Arizona will be Ortiz’s first at 160 pounds, with the 28-year-old WBC interim junior middleweight champion looking to restart a title campaign after failed attempts to secure bouts with division champions Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Sebastian Fundora.
Ortiz, 24-0 with 22 knockouts, appeared at Wednesday’s news conference in Hollywood, California, in a lighter mood after settling his contractual dispute with promoter Oscar De La Hoya. He joked that the “sparring session” with De La Hoya had made him consider life outside boxing: “Open a coffee shop?”
“I’m extremely happy to be back – excited, motivated,” Ortiz told BoxingScene. “It’s been a year and, unfortunately, I’ve been through this before [due to health reasons]. But I know I’ll be all right.”
A year of missed opportunities
The delay cost Ortiz a chance to meet Ennis. Ennis, an unbeaten two-division champion from Philadelphia, called him out in Texas last November after stopping Erickson Lubin in two rounds. But Ortiz’s financial dispute with De La Hoya held up negotiations, and Ennis moved on to a two-belt title bout. He stopped Xander Zayas in June and has since pursued an undisputed championship fight, with Josh Kelly and Fundora among the potential opponents.
Ortiz said he expected a fight with Ennis once he and Golden Boy reached a settlement, but the bout never came together. He also said his team pursued former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo, WBA middleweight champion Erislandy Lara and Tim Tszyu. Thurman was the only fighter to accept, Ortiz said, adding that he respected the former welterweight champion’s willingness to take the fight.
That makes Thurman an intriguing choice. The 37-year-old is 31-2 with 23 knockouts, and his record includes wins over Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. He was stopped by Fundora in March after taking heavy punishment, but argues that his experience can help him handle Ortiz’s pressure and carry the contest into the later rounds.
Thurman’s test and Ortiz’s next steps
Ortiz welcomes the challenge. “I want to prove that I’m the best,” he said. “If you think you’re the best, then let’s do it. People think it’s a fight. For me, it’s a competition.”
The matchup may also help Ortiz reach other PBC fighters. A bout with Thurman could make it easier to pursue the winner of the December WBA middleweight title fight between Lara and Tszyu, or WBC interim middleweight champion Jesus Ramos Jnr. Golden Boy promotes Ortiz, while Thurman fights under Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions; both are associated with DAZN.
“It’s a possibility, and it makes it easier that we are under one roof with DAZN,” De La Hoya said.
Ortiz-Thurman will serve as the co-main event for David Benavidez’s Phoenix-area homecoming, where Benavidez will challenge Poland’s Michal Cieslak for a three-belt cruiserweight title. De La Hoya said the bout wasn’t his preferred option, but that Golden Boy had run out of alternatives after Ennis and the belt-holding division’s other leading names became unavailable.
Fundora, rather than face Ortiz, took a fight against new WBC mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj and knocked him out in the 12th round on October 17 in Las Vegas. De La Hoya acknowledged that Thurman’s March defeat had initially made him doubt the veteran, but pointed to Thurman’s record and the challenge of facing a 6-foot-6 opponent like Fundora.
De La Hoya stopped short of backing Thurman to win, while saying he expects an engaging contest. For Ortiz, the stakes are clearer: a strong middleweight debut can turn a long pause into a fresh route toward the champions who have so far remained out of reach.
