More than nine days have passed since a hearing was held in a Nevada court regarding Golden Boy Promotions' temporary restraining order (TRO) against Vergil Ortiz Jr., and presiding Judge Cristina D. Silva has yet to issue a ruling on the matter.

In that time, Golden Boy's 14-day emergency TRO, which was issued on Feb. 13, has expired — and so on Monday, lawyers for Ortiz filed an emergency motion asking the court to confirm that the TRO is no longer valid and thus the WBC interim super welterweight champion is free to negotiate and enter into an agreement for his next fight.

Ortiz's lawyer, Gregory Smith, argued in a court document obtained by Uncrowned:

"In early February 2026, Ortiz was close to signing a professional boxing promotional agreement that, amongst other bouts to follow, included an April 18 fight against Jaron Ennis."

"In the time since the court issued the TRO, including within the last weekend, Mr. Ennis' promoter, Eddie Hearn, confirmed that Mr. Ennis was still interested in the bout against Ortiz, however, he cautioned that there were other potential opponents for Mr. Ennis and that further delay beyond the 'next few days' in signing the Ortiz/Ennis bout, could cause Mr. Ennis to move on."

Ortiz argues that time is running out for him to sign for a lucrative bout against WBA interim super welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis and that Ortiz being denied the opportunity to take part in the Ennis fight would cause him "irreparable harm." According to court documents filed Monday by Smith, Ortiz is prepared to agree and sign an Ennis bout with "swiftness" once he is able to do so. 

Golden Boy, Ortiz's promoter, successfully obtained the TRO in February, which precluded Ortiz from entering into third-party promotional or fight contracts until further order of the court — even specifying that a bout being negotiated between Ortiz and Ennis could not proceed — by arguing that Golden Boy would suffer irreparable harm, namely because DAZN would not renew its media rights deal with the promoter if Ortiz was free to fight Ennis without Golden Boy's involvement.

However, DAZN COO Ed McCarthy confirmed in a signed declaration that DAZN was still willing to agree to a broadcast deal with Golden Boy, whether the promoter represented Ortiz or not, significantly weakening Golden Boy's argument. 

Golden Boy responded to McCarthy's claims by correctly pointing out that McCarthy is a member of Matchroom USA — Ennis' promoter, because Matchroom USA is a joint venture between Matchroom and DAZN — and therefore DAZN would be a beneficiary of Ortiz being able to fight Ennis without Golden Boy's involvement by entering into a promotional deal with Matchroom worth between $ 12 million and $ 20 million.

Per court documents, it appears likely that Ortiz will enter into a three-bout promotional agreement with Matchroom — which includes a fight with Ennis — if a court confirms that he is able to do so.