Via Adam Baskin: WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis will defend his extra belt against rival Vergil Ortiz Jr on the rescheduled date of April 29 in Texas.
The two had been scheduled to meet earlier on March 18, but 29-year-old Stanionis (14-0.9 KO) needed an emergency procedure for an appendectomy in his hometown of Lithuania in early January, leading to the war with Vergil should be pushed back to April.
It is hoped Stanionis will not need any more time to return from the campaign as that could push the fight back further into May or June. When the final bout comes, the winner will face WBA welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr or be elevated to the full championship stadium if he refuses to fight them or chooses to vacate.
Ortiz, 24, will face the biggest test of his seven-year professional career when he faces Stanionis for the WBA minor title.
Sure, Ortiz received criticism from boxing fans who believed he could have fought Spence or WBO champion Terence Crawford for their title but instead, he instead aimed at Stanionis’ supposedly softer target.
Alternatively, Ortiz could have fought Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis but fought Stanionis. To be fair, young people Ortiz Jr is being maneuvered skillfully like a piece on a chessboard by his promoters at Golden Boy, who kept him out of harm’s way and arranged him with someone he had a better than average chance of beating. in Stanionis.
If they throw Ortiz in with Spence, Crawford or ‘Boots’ Ennis, he’ll most likely fail the first time around and will no longer have his perfect track record.
“Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Eimantas Stanionis will meet in a rescheduled welterweight match on April 29 in Texas,” said Mike Coppinger. GAME.
“The 147-pound bout was set for March 18 but was postponed after Stanionis underwent an emergency appendectomy in his native Lithuania earlier this month.”
Ortiz’s recent victories:
Michael McKinson
Maurice pickpocket
Egidijus Kavaliauskas
Ortiz was supposed to face little-known British boxer McKinson last March but suffers from an illness called rhabdomyolysis, which some believe is the result of his body having to stress when trying to lose weight down to 147.
If Ortiz doesn’t beat Stanionis, he’ll have to sit and wait for Spence & Crawford to drop their belts and go for the strap which doesn’t involve him having to fight ‘Boots’ Ennis because it’s a bad match. for him.
