Undefeated middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jr. will face recycled former unified welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman in a twelve-round bout that will serve as the chief support for the December 5th pay-per-view show headlined by a cruiserweight unification bout between David Benavidez and Michal Cieslak in Glendale, Arizona. The bout presents Ortiz with his most well-known foe to date, while Thurman will look to put himself back in world title contention following a blowout loss vs. WBC junior middleweight champ Sebastian Fundora.
Trained by the renowned Robert Garcia, Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs) has dominated his competition on his way to becoming one of the sport’s most highly-acclaimed rising stars. The 28-year-old Ortiz began his career fighting at 140 and 147 pounds, scoring a series of victories over top contenders including ex-champ Maurice Hooker and Egidijus Kavaliauskas. The Dallas-native moved up to super welterweight in 2024 and originally captured his WBC interim title with a twelve-round decision over Serhii Bohachuk. He followed up that triumph with a unanimous decision over top contender Israil Madrimov, before most recently blasting out longtime contender Erickson Lubin in the second round of their November 2025 matchup.
“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,” said Ortiz. “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.”
Clearwater, Florida’s Thurman (31-2, 23 KOs) has assembled one of the top welterweight resumes of this generation, having defeated former champions Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia and Robert Guerrero in high-profile clashes, unifying the WBA and WBC titles against Garcia in a contest of undefeated welterweight world champions. Thurman most recently dropped a March showdown with WBC 154-pound champion Sebastian Fundora. Prior to that, his only blemish came in a 2019 Fight of the Year against boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, with Thurman ending up on the wrong side of a split-decision. Thurman bounced back against two-division champion Mario Barrios by winning a unanimous decision in February 2022. He was set to face Australian superstar Tim Tszyu in March 2024 before being forced to withdraw due to injury, eventually returning to the ring in March 2025 with a third-round stoppage of Brock Jarvis.
“I’m back with a vengeance!” said Thurman. “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.”
