De La Hoya Pursues

Ortiz vs Thurman For December!

“That’s the talk, to fight him on the Benavidez card, which would be awesome,” De La Hoya told Fight Hub TV. “We’re working out things with Keith Thurman.” He cautioned that the discussions do not yet constitute a completed agreement: “It’s not the opponent yet because things are being worked out.”

De La Hoya framed the proposed fight as an opportunity to keep Ortiz active rather than continue waiting for Ennis. “I wish it would have been the Boots fight, but look, we can’t keep our fighter idle for so long,” he said. De La Hoya also pointed to Ennis pursuing a meeting with Josh Kelly and WBC champion Sebastian Fundora having another opponent, explaining why Golden Boy is exploring an alternative for Ortiz’s return. Those comments describe the promoter’s position; they do not establish that an Ortiz–Ennis fight has been permanently abandoned.

Ortiz, 28, of Grand Prairie, Texas, holds a professional record of 24–0 with 22 knockouts. He last fought on November 8, 2025, stopping Erickson Lubin at 1:30 of the second round at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The victory marked his second successful defense of the WBC interim super-welterweight championship. A December 12 appearance would end a layoff of approximately 13 months.

The Lubin victory followed two demanding championship-distance wins. Ortiz captured the interim belt with a majority decision over Serhii Bohachuk on August 10, 2024, in Las Vegas, recovering from knockdowns in the first and eighth rounds to prevail by scores of 114–112, 114–112 and 113–113. He then retained the title with a unanimous decision over former champion Israil Madrimov on February 22, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Those remain the only two decision victories of Ortiz’s professional career.

Ortiz is unbeaten in his last five appearances, with three stoppage victories during that stretch. Before defeating Bohachuk, Madrimov and Lubin, he stopped Fredrick Lawson in the first round on January 6, 2024, in Las Vegas, and knocked out Thomas Dulorme in the opening round on April 27, 2024, in Fresno, California. His recent results demonstrate both his finishing power and his ability to win over 12 rounds.

Thurman, 37, enters the proposed matchup with a record of 31–2 and 23 knockouts, along with one no-contest. Born in Clearwater, Florida, he established his championship credentials at welterweight, defeating Shawn Porter by unanimous decision on June 25, 2016, before unifying the WBA and WBC titles with a split-decision victory over Danny Garcia on March 4, 2017. Both fights took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Thurman’s most recent appearance ended in a sixth-round TKO defeat against Fundora on March 28, 2026, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, in a challenge for the WBC junior-middleweight championship. Before that setback, he returned from a three-year absence to stop Brock Jarvis in the third round on March 12, 2025, at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia.

Across his last five fights, Thurman is 3–2. That stretch also includes a unanimous-decision victory over Mario Barrios on February 5, 2022, a split-decision defeat to Manny Pacquiao on July 20, 2019, and a majority-decision win over Josesito Lopez on January 26, 2019. He has made only three appearances since the Pacquiao loss, making recent activity and his defeat to Fundora important context for any meeting with Ortiz.

A completed agreement would pair an unbeaten interim titleholder seeking renewed momentum with a former unified champion seeking to rebound from a stoppage loss. For now, however, Ortiz vs Thurman remains a proposed fight rather than an official booking.

About Golden Boy Promotions

Founded in 2002 by boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Promotions is a Los Angeles-based boxing promotional company that develops fighters and stages professional boxing events. Led by De La Hoya as chairman and CEO, the company has promoted some of the sport’s biggest and highest-grossing fights.