Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Keith Thurman square off in a middleweight bout serving as the co-feature to David Benavidez vs Michal Cieslak. The event takes place at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on December 5.
Both fighters make their debut at 160 lbs. The contest is scheduled for 12 rounds.
Ortiz Jr vs Thurman
Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs) was last in action last November, when he stopped Erickson Lubin in the second round to retain his interim WBC super welterweight title. Post-fight, the 28-year-old Dallas native went face to face with Jaron “Boots” Ennis, but their fight, which was expected this year, did not materialize.
Former unified welterweight champion Thurman (31-2, 23 KOs) of Clearwater, Florida, returned to the ring in March. The 37-year-old challenged Sebastian Fundora for his WBC 154-pound title and was stopped in the sixth round.
What they’re saying
“I am pumped to share the ring with a former world champion in Keith Thurman, who I highly respect for taking the fight when everyone else decided to hide behind politics,” Ortiz said. “Being the co-main for Benavidez is an honor as I respect him equally as a fighter and a person. It’s gonna be a great night of boxing and overall I’m just happy to be active again.”
Thurman said, “I’m back with a vengeance! I’m bringing the heat in December with an action fight against Vergil Ortiz – another young lion. Fans should really enjoy this one – you know the resume. I fight the best and the gladiator in me is not done yet. Get ready, Christmas is coming early.”
- The main event is a cruiserweight title unification bout between unified WBA and WBO champion Benavidez (32-0, 26 KOs) of Phoenix, Arizona, and WBC titleholder Cieslak (28-2, 22 KOs) of Poland.
The card will stream live on PPV via DAZN and Prime Video.