Despite that, he's yet to be enforced as the mandatory challenger for Sebastian Fundora, who holds the full WBC title.

Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs)won the interim belt since his majority decision victory over Serhii Bohachuk in August 2024. The 28-year-old from Grand Prairie, Texas, said on Chris Mannix’s podcast, Boxing with Mannix and Mora, that he and his promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, asked WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman to order Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs) to face him. However, that conversation left him with more questions than answers.

“We were on the phone side by side with Golden Boy [and] Mauricio, and we asked for the fight,” Ortiz said. “I am also not going to pretend I know how it works either, because I thought that if you had the interim, you were next in line. I'm just as confused as everybody else.”

Fundora, The Ring’s No. 3-ranked junior middleweight, is expected to face mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj (23-0-1, 8 KOs) in the fall. The 6-foot-6 southpaw has defended his title three times, notching stoppage victories over Chordale Booker, Tim Tszyu and Keith Thurman.

Fundora, 28, of Coachella, California, won the WBC and WBO titles when he defeated Tszyu in their first fight by split decision in March 2024. He vacated the WBO title in April 2025 to pursue the rematch with Tszyu.

“I didn't even really understand it,” Ortiz said of the explanation he received from Sulaiman. “I don't know whose fault it is. Is it my fault? Am I just dumb? For me, it's simple. I have the interim; I should be in line, right? It's not [that] I want to stay interim forever, right? I want my shot. I honestly don't get it.”

Ortiz, The Ring’s No. 2-ranked junior middleweight, has defended his interim belt twice, beating former WBA 154-pound champion Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision in February 2025 and stopping Erickson Lubin in the second round in November.

The win over Lubin was supposed to be the final hurdle before Ortiz faced Jaron “Boots” Ennis in early 2026. Legal issues that began in January between Ortiz and his promoter derailed the fight, but the two sides reached an amicable settlement on Friday.

Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1-ranked junior middleweight, became the unified 154-pound champion with a seventh-round stoppage of Xander Zayas on June 27 in New York.

Ortiz is expected to return to the ring sometime in the fall, and he hopes to land the big fight he's sought.

“I feel like I'm just knocking on the door in one of those big fights, and I'm waiting on those opportunities,” Ortiz said. “So that's exactly where I was two years ago. I feel like I'm almost blacklisted in a way. That’s how I honestly feel … I'm at the height of my career. I'm 28 years old. I want my opportunity. It's not a lack of trying. It's not on my end.“