Vergil Ortiz's promoter not interested right now in title fight with Bakhram Murtazaliev
Mar 10, 2025 • 9:00 PM ET
LOS ANGELES – Refuting the suggestion that an offer to fight IBF junior middleweight titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev has been extended to unbeaten contender Vergil Ortiz Jnr, Oscar De La Hoya says he’s not tempted to make the fight now, anyway.
“Never sent it to me. I haven’t signed anything,” De La Hoya, the head of Golden Boy Promotions, told BoxingScene on Monday, shortly before a press conference for the May 2 card featuring his fighters Ryan Garcia, Jose Ramirez and Arnold Barboza.
Murtazaliev’s promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, said on Monday that an offer was sent from Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh for Murtazaliev, 23-0 (17 KOs), to fight Ortiz on June 28 on Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco.
“This morning, we were told that your team turned down the fight,” the Main Events social media account posted.
Vergil Ortiz Snr responded on the platform that his son’s hands are injured and might not heal by then.
Texas’ Ortiz, 23-0 (21 KOs), is coming off grueling victories over Serhii Bohachuk, in which he suffered two knockdowns last August, and former WBA titleholder Israil Madrimov, whom Ortiz defeated February 22 by rallying impressively on the scorecards.
“I don’t like that [Murtazaliev] fight. Not coming off Bohachuk, not coming off Madrimov,” De La Hoya said. “In boxing, there’s rules. If you want to take care of a fighter and not have him burn out, you don’t put him up against a beast, a beast, a beast. You burn out the fighters. So I don’t like the fight.”
Murtazaliev is expecting to return to fight in the summer, and his new IBF mandatory will emerge in May when former title challenger Erickson Lubin meets Ardreal Holmes in Florida.
Lance Pugmire has been a full-time boxing writer for nearly 20 years, serving now as BoxingScene’s U.S. Senior Writer and assistant producer for ProBoxTV’s “BoxingScene Today.” Pugmire capped a near 20-year career at the Los Angeles Times (sports investigations, NHL/MLB beat work, law enforcement/courts and boxing/UFC) to join The Athletic, and then USA Today. Pugmire’s stint at The Times started with the first Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez fight and the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jnr then-record pay-per-view, leading through a slew of ringside assignments at major bouts, including Mayweather-Pacquiao, Mayweather-Canelo and the Canelo-Golovkin trilogy. Lance’s appreciation for boxing is rooted in his admiration and appreciation for the fighters, gladiators who have proven to be the most forthcoming and candid of all the athletes he has interviewed over a career dating to 1990. Lance was honored to be named the 2022 winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence and he’s collected many BWAA writing awards in categories ranging from breaking news to deep-dive long features.
![Jaron Ennis [left] and Vergil Ortiz square up in November 2025](/img/v1/1920?src=https%3A%2F%2Fphoto.boxingscene.com%2Fuploads%2FJaronEnnisVergilOrtiz11082025-05.webp)
