De La Hoya’s ‘Demands’ Seen As Move To Shield Ortiz Jr.

Fans on social media want to know if they’ll get a chance to see the Boots vs. Ortiz Jr. fight next after listening to promoter Oscar De La Hoya say he wants “Favorable terms” for Vergil Ortiz Jr. at the post-fight press conference after Ortiz Jr’s second-round TKO win over Erickson Lubin last Saturday night in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Code Meaning of “Favorable Terms”

De La Hoya’s “favorable terms” is standard promoter talk, which translates to wanting the biggest purse for WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs). We’re likely looking at a purse split of 60/40 or 70/30 in Golden Boy Promotion’s favor for Vergil Jr.

Classic Promoter Tactics

Traditionally, promoters insist on excessively favorable terms for their fighters as a trick to get the other promoter and fighter to give up and walk away. They can then throw up their hands and tell fans, ‘Well, we tried, but they didn’t want the fight.’ It’s a sneaky way for a promoter to protect their fighter from a matchup that they don’t believe they can win.

Fans should be suspicious when they hear De La Hoya say Vergil Jr. has the “upper hand” in negotiations with Ennis.

Crawford and Spence Name-Drops

What makes that even worse is Vergil Jr. saying he’d be interested in fighting Errol Spence Jr. or Terence Crawford next. Mentioning those two is a signal that if he doesn’t get terms that he likes against ‘Boots,’ he’s going to walk away in the direction of Errol or Crawford if he can get either of them to agree to fight him.

Avoiding the Real 154 Threats

What fans feel is pathetic is that Ortiz Jr. made no mention of the 154-lb champions, Bakhram Murtazaliev or Sebastian Fundora. He brought up the 38-year-old Crawford and the inactive 35-year-old Spence. It’s a sign that Vergil Jr. is only focused on money and not willing to take a risky fight unless it pays an enormous amount.

De La Hoya’s Fear Talk

“I’m actually skeptical now, because I told Eddie [Hearn] and ‘Boots’ [Ennis] not to come and watch Vergil live because you’re going to be afraid of what you see,” said promoter Oscar De La Hoya at the post-fight press conference last night, talking about his warning to Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn and Jaron ‘Boot’ Ennis before Vergil Ortiz Jr’s fight against Erickson Lubin.

“I told them not to be there live because this guy [Ortiz Jr.] is a monster, and you’re probably going to be afraid and want to take another tune-up fight,” said De La Hoya. “Hopefully, Eddie Hearn calls us, and we can come to favorable terms for Vergil and get him what he wants, and we can make the super fight happen.”