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Rick Mirigian responds to Oscar De La Hoya over the Ortiz-Ennis feud

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Jaron Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr face off during a boxing event

Rick Mirigian has slammed Oscar De La Hoya after the Golden Boy boss said he would never work with him again amid a legal dispute over his fight loss to Jaron Ennis.

Mirigian is the manager of Vergil Ortiz Jr. and former world champion Jose Ramirez, among others. in De La Hoya promotional attire. He made the comments in response to De La Hoya’s recent comments on the situation, arguing that the promoter’s version of events did not reflect what happened during negotiations for the Ortiz-Ennis fight.

The fight was widely discussed as one of the biggest potential welterweight fights before talks broke down.

“Pobrecito thinks he has actually won the case,” Mirigian wrote, reacting to De La Hoya’s claims of victory in the early stages of the dispute.

Mirigian disputes Oscar De La Hoya’s version

At the center of the dispute is Golden Boy’s offer to Ortiz to fight Ennis. Mirigian maintains that the offer significantly underestimated his player’s value and says rejecting it was the right move.

“He only offers Vergil $3 million for the biggest fight in the entire sport, and then sues me personally for at least $10 million in ‘lost profits’ on the Vergil contract for simply saying, ‘No thanks, not enough money here,'” Mirigian said.

The dispute stems from last year’s negotiations for the Ortiz-Ennis fight. When the talks ended, the dispute escalated into legal action between Mirigian and Golden Boy.

Mirigian claims that subsequent offers showed that Ortiz’s market value was much higher than Ennis’ original proposal.

“Then, to further prove my point, I receive offers of $16 million and $12 million along with a bonus of up to $20 million for a fraction of what Oscar was offering,” he added.

Mirigian also rejected accusations of blocking the fight, insisting that he simply asked Golden Boy to present another opponent when the financial gap could not be bridged.

“No thank you, there is not enough money here, so please send us another opponent according to our contract, because in this case we are too far apart,” Mirigian said, claiming that no replacement opponent was ever offered.

Golden Boy

Ortiz’s future could become history

Although De La Hoya publicly stated that he would never work with Mirigian again, the manager noted that several of his fighters were still involved in Golden Boy events.

“I have six guys there and tonight was the winner,” Mirigian said, noting that one of his guys headlined the event.

The exchange underscores how tense relations between Mirigian and Golden Boy have become since negotiations in the Ennis case collapsed and the dispute moved to court.

Given what happened and De La Hoya’s usual stance on retaining players while they remain under contract, it will be captivating to see how Ortiz’s future unfolds and whether the Golden Boy boss can realistically continue working with the undefeated contender while Mirigian remains his manager.

If this relationship can’t be repaired, the long-term situation between Ortiz and Golden Boy could become a bigger story than the Ennis negotiations that started the feud.


About the Author

Phil Jay is the editor-in-chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a boxing veteran with over 15 years of experience. Read the full biography.

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Roy Jones Jr Declares New KO Artist the Next Canelo: Fans Eager for Fight

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"Roy Jones Jr Declares New KO Artist the 'Next Canelo': Fans Eager for Fight"

Roy Jones Jr has named one fighter as the “new Canelo” and, by extension, considers them to be the ‘face of boxing’.

Some might argue that Canelo Alvarez remains boxing’s biggest commercial star but, with the 36-year-old approaching retirement, the sport is surely crying out for another mainstream attraction to take his place.

It is also unusual for the four-division world champion that, by the end of this year, he will not have fought on Cinco de Mayo or Mexican Independence Day weekend.

Instead, occupying the latter date earlier this month was Ryan Garciawho retained his WBC world title with a second-round stoppage of Conor Benn, taking his record to 21 knockouts from 26 victories, with just two defeats.

In doing so, the 28-year-old has kept himself in the mix for unification matches with Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney but, until such fights materialise, he seems eager to remain active and defend his welterweight belt.

As far as a next opponent goes, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz has been mentioned as a possible option following his emphatic sixth-round knockout of Nestor Bravo last weekendand it seems that pound-for-pound legend Jones would enjoy that clash.

That is because Jones has told All The Smoke Boxing that Garcia-Cruz is a stylistically similar matchup to Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.

“Ryan is the new Canelo – everybody wants to see Ryan.

“[Cruz] has the style – the perfect style – that you want to see against Ryan. Ryan’s a classic boxer-puncher; Pitbull is a brawler-puncher. That’s Ali and Frazier, almost.

“Who would not, on planet Earth, want to see that fight?”

While Cruz is, indeed, a tenacious brawler-puncher, the 5ft 4in super-lightweight would be contending with a glaring size disadvantage if he moves up to 147lbs and faces Garcia.

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Heavyweight Brothers Aim to Dominate Boxing Like the Klitschkos

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"Heavyweight Brothers Aim to Dominate Boxing Like the Klitschkos"

A pair of German prospects hope to follow in the footsteps of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, who became the first brothers to simultaneously reign as world heavyweight champions.

The two highly-decorated Ukrainians achieved this feat between 2008 and 2013, after Vitali reclaimed his WBC title by dethroning Samuel Peter with an eighth-round finish.

‘Dr. Ironfist’ would then retire from the sport and pursue his political career, while Wladimir became the longest-reigning world heavyweight champion in history before losing to Tyson Fury in 2015.

While holding all four major titles between them, though, the Klitschko brothers established themselves as a dominant force and became mainstream celebrities in Germany.

Since then, the German boxing scene has struggled to generate such widespread attention but, now, over a decade later, Ismet Ademi (24) and Endrit Ademi (21) are bidding to emulate the Klitschko duo.

With seven national titles between them, the pair turned professional earlier this year and caught the eye of several promoters in the UK and US.

It can now be revealed, however, that the Ademi brothers have inked multi-year deals with Ringside Zone, who considers itself the leading boxing promotional outfit in Germany.

With Ismet returning to action on October 10, the 1-0 (1 KO) prospect explained that he and younger brother Endrit, 2-0 (2 KOs), would rather establish themselves on home soil than chase opportunities overseas.

“My brother and I had massive offers from abroad, but Germany is our home and this is where we want to build our legacy.

“Ringside Zone has already shown they can put German fighters in world title fights, and that mattered to us. We made a promise to each other years ago that we would become world champions together – signing here is another step toward keeping it.”

With lofty plans for the future, the Ademi brothers make for intriguing additions to the heavyweight scene as they aim to eventually reach world level and reach the heights that the Klitschko brothers once did.

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Muhammad Ali Names Boxings Greatest: He Was the Greatest

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"Muhammad Ali Names Boxing's Greatest: 'He Was the Greatest'"

Muhammad Ali once revealed who he believed to be the pound-for-pound greatest fighter of all time.

Ali is arguably the biggest name to ever grace boxing, becoming a global cultural figure not just for what he accomplished inside of the ring, but also for his activism efforts outside of it.

He was a three-time world heavyweight champion, and claimed wins in a number of epic battles, including the ‘Rumble In The Jungle’ against George Foremanand the ‘Thrilla In Manila’ against Joe Frazier.

Ali finished with a record of 56 wins from his 61 professional bouts, and despite all of his success, Ali conceded that another man ranked above him as the number one fighter in boxing history, admitting that he feels Sugar Ray Robinson is deserving of that honour.

“That man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful.

“I’d say I’m the greatest heavyweight of all time, but pound-for-pound, I still say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest of all time.”

Robinson competed professionally from 1940 to 1965, having a remarkable 201 fights during that time, winning 174 of them. At his peak, Robinson once had a record of 129 wins from 132 fights, with 85 of those wins coming by knockout.

He went on a 91-fight unbeaten streak during that time, as he held the world welterweight title for five years, before becoming world middleweight champion on multiple occasions.

Ali isn’t the only boxing legend that believes Robinson is the best ever, with fellow heavyweight icon Mike Tyson also sharing the same view.

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