Full Lineup For Golden Boy’s Return On July 24 Revealed

While delayed a few weeks, Golden Boy will look to impress with its first fight card since March.

According to ESPN, Golden Boy will return on July 24 from inside the Fantasy Springs Casino Resort in Indio, California. The event will be without fans, and the main event will feature Vergil Ortiz Jr. facing Samuel Vargas. The two were rumored to fight in March before the coronavirus pandemic postponed the event.

“We’re just excited, happy to be back with our fighters,” said Eric Gomez, President of Golden Boy Promotions. “Especially a guy like Vergil who was scheduled to fight before the shutdown. He was 10 days out from fighting, so I’m just happy he gets to fight again, and we’re back at it.”

Ortiz (15-0) is one of Golden Boy’s top prospects. He made his professional debut in 2016 and has won all fifteen of his wins via some form of knockout. The 22-year-old last fought in December, beating Brad Solomon via TKO.

“I’m very thankful and excited to be headlining the first Golden Boy event after the quarantine,” said Ortiz. “I’m happy that it’s still with the same opponent, so basically we’re picking up where we left off. It’s going to be a tough fight, and it’ll be a great way to kick off the year for me.”

A WBA-NABA Welterweight Champion, Vargas (31-5-2) has faced some of the best in boxing today. While he has lost to Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, and Amir Khan, Vargas has managed to impress each time out. Vargas is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Silverio Ortiz back in June 2019.

The new date and opportunity for Ortiz comes at a time when tensions are high between Golden Boy and Ryan Garcia. He was supposed to fight on July 4 but called out Golden Boy and DAZN for offering him $200,000 to compete. Golden Boy’s Oscar De La Hoya is trying to ease tensions by offering Garcia fights, without the involvement of adviser Lupe Valencia.

It is unknown when we will see Garcia in a Golden Boy ring again.

The co-feature of the July 24 card will see Hector Tanajara take on Mercito Gesta. Tanajara (19-0) made his professional debut in 2015. The 23-year-old last fought in January, beating Juan Carlos Burgos via unanimous decision. Gesta (32-3-3) is a major step-up in competition for the young fighter, as he made his debut in 2003. The 32-year-old is 1-1-1 in his last three bouts, last fighting Carlos Morales to a technical draw in November.

Other bouts on the card include:

• Shane Mosely Jr. (15-3) v. Jeremy Ramos (11-8) 
• Seniesa Estrada (18-0) v. Jacky Calvo (12-5-2) 
• Hector Valdez v. Evan Sanchez

Following these fights, Golden Boy is looking to secure the next few months of bouts, with or without fans. It all depends on the situation regarding the coronavirus and what other states do.