“Eddie did not call me, so I am moving on,” De La Hoya said to Boxingscene.
In a separate video posted later in the day, De La Hoya removed any remaining ambiguity. He said that if Eddie Hearn did not call by the end of Monday to accept the offer, negotiations were finished. The terms, he said, would not be revisited, and there would be no extended back and forth.
The proposal would have given Ortiz the larger share as interim WBC titleholder at junior middleweight, with five percent reserved for the winner. Jaron Ennis would have entered the fight as an unbeaten former unified welterweight champion making his full transition into the 154 pound division.
From Golden Boy’s position, the delay itself became the answer. Ortiz is active, holds a recognised belt, and has already taken demanding fights since moving up in weight. De La Hoya has shown little interest in letting his fighter sit while waiting for a response that may never come.
Attention is now shifting elsewhere. De La Hoya has said he expects to open talks with representatives for Sebastian Fundora, and he has also mentioned Errol Spence Jr. as a possible future opponent. Both names represent established paths rather than prolonged negotiation.
For Ennis, the situation leaves a narrower lane. He made his junior middleweight debut earlier this year with a quick stoppage of Uisma Lima, a fight that served as an introduction to the weight rather than a test at the top of the division. While options remain, the Ortiz fight was the one that would have immediately settled questions about his place at 154.
Elsewhere, the division continues to take shape. Xander Zayas is scheduled to face Abass Baraou, while IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev is set to defend against Josh Kelly.
If the call was going to come, it had to come now. It didn’t. De La Hoya says that ends it, and he is already acting like it has.
