But after being entangled in a legal beef with Golden Boy Promotions for the first half of 2026, Ennis and many of the top players in the junior middleweight division passed by a sidelined Ortiz.

Now, the knockout artist is zeroing in on a fight against Keith Thurman on December 5 in Phoenix, Arizona, on the undercard of an event headlined by David Benavidez vs. Michal Cieslak.

"Vergil is in camp already, and he's training. He told me Wednesday that he still has not signed his contract, but he did say it will get finalized soon," Ortiz's head coach Robert Garcia told The Ring.

"I think it is going to be Thurman. I can't say it's 100 percent done because he still hasn't signed his contract, but Vergil feels very confident that the fight is going to get finalized pretty soon."

Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs) taking on Thurman (31-2, 23 KOs) would essentially amount to a tune-up tilt, but fighting a known-yet-faded commodity as a heavy favorite is better than fighting at all.

"Look, I think at this point, being off for over a year, we need to fight," Garcia said. "It's going to take longer to find somebody else. I just need Vergil to get back into the ring. If it's against Thurman, I'm fine with that. We were hoping to fight Boots Ennis, so yes, it's a big f——g difference.

"But at this point, I just want Vergil to get back in the ring. We can't wait any longer for other possibilities. There is no more time to waste. We can focus on the big fights next year."

Garcia realizes that the 37-year-old Thurman's best days are long behind him. The former unified welterweight champion looked like a shell of himself last time out in March, getting battered and stopped by WBC 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora in a one-sided, sixth-round beatdown.

Thurman recently admitted that Ortiz's power should be more dangerous than Fundora's.

"Thurman didn't look too good in his last fight against Fundora, so now we have to see if it will be different against us," Garcia said. "But styles make fights, and I think Thurman will try. It's not like he's completely done.

"Vergil's style can make it to where we could get some exciting rounds. I could probably see that happening. But I just want Vergil to get this fight out of the way, get back in his rhythm, and keep him busy next year."

Ortiz, a 28-year-old native of Grand Prairie, Texas, last fought in November and stopped Erickson Lubin inside of two rounds.