By Brian Webber: Golden Boy Promotions has won today’s purse bid to stage the bout between WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Eimantas & Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Golden Boy won the auction with a $2.3 million bid. Coming in second in the bidding with TGB Promotions with a $2.1 million bid.
For the boxing fans that subscribe to DAZN, they’ll be happy to learn that Golden Boy has won the purse bid for the Stanionis-Ortiz fight because that means the bout will be shown on the streaming service.
Ortiz will get the first real test of his seven-year professional career, and he’ll get the opportunity to show whether he’s for real. If he can’t beat Stanionis, the hopes Golden Boy had of turning the Texas native into a star will be dashed.
The winner of the Stanionis vs. Eimantas fight could face WBA Super champion Errol Spence Jr. However, Spence may choose to vacate his WBA title in 2024 without fighting the Stanionis-Eimantas winner.
Spence would like to fight WBO champion Terence Crawford for the undisputed championship at 147, but that match-up remains doubtful.
Ortiz and Stanionis haven’t shown the talent that suggests that either could hang with Spence or Crawford. The Stanionis-Ortiz winner will be lucky if Spence vacates because that’ll allow them to take sole possession of the WBA title without risking their hides.
It makes sense for Golden Boy to have come up with the winning bid, as their fighter, 24-year-old Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs), is a guy that they believe has the talent to not only win a world title but also become a star.
It remains to be seen if Ortiz can meet the high expectations Golden Boy has for him because his career has slowed down dramatically, and he’s not made the leaps that boxing fans had expected.
Golden Boy hasn’t moved Ortiz Jr rapidly in the last two years, and now 24. Even if Vergil beats Stanionis, it’s questionable whether Golden Boy will put him in against the right opposition that will allow him to take his career to the next level.
“Golden Boy Boxing just won the auction to mount the fight between Eimantas Stanionis & Vergil Ortiz for the regular welterweight championship WBA, with 2.3 million dollars. It was imposed on 2.1 million by TGB Promotions,” said Salvador Rodriguez on twitter.