One can only hope that the sequence of back-and-forth shots between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Xander Zayas graduates to a real slugfest one day.

Before Ortiz moved on to his Nov. 8 fight against Erickson Lubin, he was knee-deep in negotiations trying to stage a fight with the recently minted WBO junior middleweight champion Zayas.

Contract talks fell through the cracks and spilled into social media once Zayas posted a screenshot of an email between Top Rank and Golden Boy executives revealing a 50/50% offer was made for the fight to take place in December in California or Nevada. Zayas insisted on the pitting to take place in his hometown of Puerto Rico.

Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) labeled Zayas a duck, while Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs), boxing’s youngest male champion at 22, called Ortiz “a 27-year-old prospect,” even though Ortiz carries the better resume with back-to-back wins against Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk and has beaten the likes of Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Maurice Hooker throughout his nine-year career.

“You have to have some kind of credibility and integrity [to say such things],” Ortiz told The Ring. “He beat Jorge Garcia Perez for a vacant title, someone who no one knows. His world title win holds no weight. It doesn't feel like he's a world champion.

“I think he's a good fighter, but he's unproven. He hasn't fought a big name yet and I am sure he will, but he’s talking like he has.

“It's a lot of mental gymnastics from his side. I just think it's funny because he thinks he's in control now. Go make a fight in Puerto Rico and see how it does and I'll fight Lubin in Texas, and we'll see how that does. I'll just leave it at that.”

Despite beating former world champions and currently carrying the WBC interim 154-pound title, Ortiz still remains uncrowned, having never challenged for a full world title. The Ring’s No. 2-rated contender at 154 pounds plans on changing that in 2026.

“It's very important for me to become a world champion,” said Ortiz. “That is every fighter's dream, to be one of the best in the sport. It's not even a want at this point – it has to happen. We are waiting for the opportunity.”

Ortiz manager Rick Mirigian is hopeful Ortiz's world title opportunity will come against Zayas sometime in 2026.

"The fight against Xander was most likely not going to happen next, but we tried, and that's what matters," he said.

"The timing was bad, too, as his promoter was in between network deals. Xander became a champion too fast and is not ready yet for the monsters at this level like Vergil. But the fight could have and would have been made if Xander wanted it.

"And to be fair, Xander deserves a title defense in Puerto Rico before being fed to the wolves. Xander's biggest payday in the division will undoubtedly come against Vergil. There's nothing that comes close against anyone else. We sincerely wish Xander and his team the best and hope a Mexico vs. Puerto Rico super fight happens sometime next year."