Oscar De La Hoya is defending his contractual rights against Vergil Ortiz Jr. — and he’s placing the blame for the standoff squarely on Ortiz’s management team.
De La Hoya, speaking on FightHype on March 12, 2026 — the same day he celebrated a legal victory in a separate case — said Ortiz has the talent and the time to rebuild his career under Golden Boy Promotions, but that bad advice is keeping him out of the ring.
Virgil Ortiz is 29, 30 years old. He has his own voice. He can choose whatever he wants to choose. So he doesn’t have to listen to his manager who’s giving him the wrong advice and his lawyer who’s just keeping him away from boxing. It’s crazy.
De La Hoya Standing Firm on His Contract
With a judge already ruling in his favor on the contract’s validity, De La Hoya said he has no intention of walking away from his legal position — and framed it as a matter of principle, not just business.
I’m going to defend my rights because I have a contract that’s in place that the judge ruled on. Those are my rights as a fighter. You know what you’re signing.
He pushed back on any suggestion that Golden Boy’s terms are being forced on Ortiz, insisting his approach with fighters has always been one of full transparency.
Me as a fighter, I explain to the fighters everything that’s on the table. There’s nothing to hide.
‘Are We Seeing Another Mikey Garcia Situation?’
De La Hoya drew a historical parallel to fighters who stepped away from the sport in their prime due to promotional disputes, suggesting Ortiz is at risk of making the same mistake.
Are we seeing another Mikey Garcia situation? It’s pretty sad. Andre Ward, too.
Both Garcia and Ward were elite-level talents whose careers were complicated — and in Ward’s case effectively ended — by contractual and promotional disagreements.
De La Hoya said Ortiz’s management appears to be steering him in a similar direction, keeping a prime fighter on the sidelines while the clock runs on his best years.
The fact that there’s a manager and a lawyer who’s giving you the wrong advice — maybe the fighter should stand up and say, ‘Oscar’s right. Let me continue my career and let me fight and let me continue making a lot of money.'
The Bigger Picture
De La Hoya’s comments came as part of a broader conversation about fighter compensation and promoter-athlete dynamics across combat sports.
He has positioned Golden Boy as a fighter-first operation, one that gives athletes a larger share of revenue compared to what he describes as an inverted financial structure in organizations like the UFC.
Whether Ortiz ultimately returns to Golden Boy or the dispute escalates further remains to be seen, but De La Hoya made clear he isn’t blinking — and that the door remains open if Ortiz’s camp changes course.
