Vergil Ortiz Jr signs with MTK Global and manager Rick Mirigian, still with Golden Boy

22-year-old welterweight standout Vergil Ortiz Jr is the latest name to jump onto the MTK Global stable, as he’s signed a deal for MTK as advisers, and also a deal with Rick Mirigian to be his manager.

The deals are for five years.

You may know Mirigian from his work with 140-pound titleholder Jose Ramirez in particular, and MTK of course have dozens of fighters under their banner, either as promoters or advisers or whatever, as they continue to expand their operation globally.

Ortiz (16-0, 16 KO) is still with Golden Boy Promotions.

“I’m very excited to sign with MTK as an advisement group with manager Rick Mirigan, who also happens to be the manager of my favorite boxer Jose Ramirez,” Ortiz said. “I’ve heard great things about Rick and MTK and I’m looking forward to the future.”

“Ortiz has had a sensational career so far and he’s destined to become a world champion, so we’re extremely excited to now be working with this superstar,” MTK Global CEO Bob Yalen said.

“There are plans for Ortiz to be the face of the 147 pound division and a superstar in the near future,” Mirigian added. “We want to build Ortiz outside of the ring and bring in landmark endorsement deals, and look to help put on major fights around him at AT&T Stadium. I’m blessed and grateful to him and his team for giving me the chance to help guide this next chapter of his career, I will give them my all.”

Ortiz last fought on July 24, stopping veteran Samuel Vargas in the seventh round. With Canelo Alvarez out at Golden Boy, Ortiz is one of the keys for Golden Boy to remain a relevant promoter going forward.

They have Ryan Garcia as probably their most immediately marketable star, in that Garcia has already marketed himself extremely well, but Ortiz has superstar potential, too, and keeping Ortiz happy is going to need to be a big focus for Golden Boy going forward. And given that Golden Boy don’t have really much of anything in-house for Ortiz — he’s sort of in the position with GBP that Terence Crawford is with Top Rank — that could get tough sometime as soon as mid-2021 or so. Definitely something they need to figure out, and something for everyone to keep an eye on.