Unbeaten WBA ‘regular’ welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) will defend his belt against #1 Vergil Ortiz Jr (19-0, 19 KOs) on April 29th on DAZN at the College Park Center at The University of Texas at Arlington campus. The fight will be streamed live on DAZN.
Stanionis, 28, had a recent surgery that made it necessary to have his fight with Ortiz pushed back to April 29th instead of March, but thankfully, it’s finally going to take place.
Stanionis will be coming off a year layoff since capturing the WBA ‘regular’ 147-lb title last April with a 12 round split decision win over Radzhab Butaev in a grueling battle in Arlington, Texas.
Since that fight, Stanionis has been on the shelf until finally scheduling the first defense of his WBA belt against the unbeaten Golden Boy-promoted Ortiz Jr.
Stanionis competed in the 2016 Olympics for his native Lithuania, turning professional a year later in 2017. In the last six years, Stanionis has compiled wins against Luis Collazo, Thomas Dulorme, Levan Ghvamichava, Justin DeLoach, and Janer Gonzalez.
For his part, Ortiz Jr has had a more arduous road than Stanionis, beating Maurice Hooker, Michael McKinson, Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Brad Solomon, Antonio Orozco, Samuel Vargas, Juan Carlos Salgado, Mauricio Herrera, and Roberto Ortiz.
“There will be war inside the ring on April 29 as these two dangerous fighters fight,” said Oscar De La Hoya.
“Ortiz and Stanionis are elite level fighters who will be unafraid to unleash treacherous power and pressure to be crowned World Champion.”
It’s great that De La Hoya is finally letting Ortiz Jr fight for a world title because he’s had opportunities to fight for belts in the past against WBO champion Terence Crawford & IBF/WBA/WBC champ Errol Spence Jr. Still, he’s been held back to get the perfect chance to capture a world title.
Still, if Ortiz Jr defeats Stanionis, he could be forced to face Spence if he returns to the welterweight division after his fight in April against Keith Thurman.
That match is supposed to be taking place at 154, and its unknown if Spence will come back won to 147 or if he’ll elect to stay at junior middleweight to campaign in that weight class.
“I am beyond happy, knowing that we’re finally here, fighting for a world title,” said Vergil Ortiz, Jr. “
“Stanionis is a great fighter with massive power, and I know we will put on a good show for everyone.”
“Vergil asked for this fight, so here we are,” said Eimantas Stanionis. “Make no mistake, and it will be an absolute war.”
