Promoter Oscar De La Hoya has continued to border the situation as routine negotiation. Chatting with Fighthype, he stressed that talks have been energetic for months and remain ongoing.
“We’ve been in negotiations with DAZN for quite some time now,” De La Hoya said. “We’ve had an ideal relationship with DAZN, and we’ve placed on some great events with them. There’s no reason why that relationship should end.”
De La Hoya added that discussions began well before the contract expired. “We began back in October, November, even in September of last 12 months,” he said. “It’s such a fancy contract that it takes time.”
That explanation is now being tested in court. In mid January, Vergil Ortiz Jr. filed a lawsuit in search of to terminate his promotional agreement with Golden Boy. The filing points to a selected provision, Section 3k, which Ortiz’s legal team says allowed him to exit the contract if Golden Boy’s exclusive DAZN deal expired. From that view, the lapse on December 31 was not a technical delay but a trigger.
Ortiz’s lawyers go further, arguing that ongoing talks don’t amount to a binding agreement. Within the filing, they describe Golden Boy’s position as an “agreement to agree,” language meant to underline that negotiations alone don’t replace an energetic broadcast contract.
The lawsuit also drags Golden Boy’s Most worthy potential fight into the dispute. Ortiz alleges the corporate did not act in good faith to finalize a bout with Jaron Ennis and as an alternative used his availability as leverage in talks with DAZN. That fight has long been viewed because the anchor for any renewed deal. Industry reporting has suggested DAZN wants Ennis versus Ortiz because the centerpiece. With Ortiz now difficult his contract, that leverage has thinned.
The broader market only sharpens the pressure. Top Rank has been with no major network since its take care of ESPN expired in 2025, relying as an alternative on limited FAST channel distribution to maintain dates alive. At the identical time, Zuffa Boxing, led by Dana White, recently secured a multi 12 months agreement with Paramount+ for 2026, locking in a platform while others scramble.
That contrast matters. Golden Boy remains to be negotiating, still hopeful, and still without cover. De La Hoya’s optimism may yet be rewarded, but once fighters start pointing to exit clauses and judges start reading contracts, patience stops being a technique and starts being a risk.