Vergil Ortiz Jr faces Keith Thurman in December after Boots Ennis fight derailed

The unbeaten 154lb contender returns for the first time since settling his contractual dispute with Golden Boy Promotions, against a former unified welterweight champion who was stopped by Sebastian Fundora in March.

Vergil Ortiz Jr will fight Keith Thurman in December, on the undercard of David Benavidez's unification bout against Michal Cieslak.

The fight is at middleweight and will be the co-main event on 5 December, live on DAZN, The Ring announced. Emiliano Vargas will also feature on the main card in a 10-round contest.

It will be the undefeated Ortiz's first fight since his legal dispute with Golden Boy Promotions. The contractual battle kept him out of the ring for much of the year and derailed a planned fight with Jaron 'Boots' Ennis, before the two sides reached a settlement in July and resumed working together.

Ortiz has not fought since he knocked out Erikson Lublin in the second round last November. A clear win over Thurman would let him shake off the ring rust and move on to world titles.

Thurman, 37, is a former unified welterweight champion and brings name recognition and commercial value to the card. He also has his own inactivity to answer for, and questions over whether he still belongs at the top level. He was stopped by Sebastian Fundora in March.

It is not yet known whether the fight with Ennis can be revived. Ennis is scheduled to face Josh Kelly in a unification bout at the beginning of 2027.

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