By TMZ Sports

Former world champion Victor Ortiz is a wanted man ... after officials said he violated his probation in his DUI case -- and now a warrant has been issued for his arrest. 

As we previously reported, the former WBC welterweight champ was busted for drunk driving back in 2016 and was later sentenced to 3 years probation. 

According to court documents, he was supposed to check in with his probation officer on June 20 -- but failed to do so.

And then Ortiz was then ordered to appear in court on July 10. He no-showed that appearance, so a violation of probation warrant was issued.

It's not like cops will be out hunting Ortiz down -- but if he has a brush with the law, he'll be arrested and hauled into court. Bail has already been set at $5,000.

Ortiz was arrested on Sept. 24th in Ventura County, California around 7 PM when cops pulled over his BMW and smelled booze.

Officials stated that Ortiz's blood alcohol count was more than .15 ... which is a huge deal because in California, that triggers a "special allegation" which carries a tougher penalty if convicted ... more jail, higher fines, etc.

Ortiz managed to strike a plea deal in his case, where he cut a deal with prosecutors in which he plead guilty to a misdemeanor DUI and in exchange the "special allegation" was dismissed.

Ortiz has been out of the ring since February, when he fought to a majority draw with fellow former world champion Devon Alexander.

There was some talk of a potential showdown in the coming months with his career rival, Brandon Rios. The feud between the two boxers has been ongoing for several years, and for the first time there are no network or promotional boundaries to prevent the fight from taking place - and they both compete in the welterweight division.