Eimantas Stanionis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. will step into the ring this Saturday at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, to fight for the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown in one of the most interesting bouts of the year.
Two young boxers who are going through good times in their careers and who know that this fight is key to their aspirations of getting closer to the world elite of the sport.
This fight should have been made earlier but Stanionis had to deal with appendicitis surgery and the recovery time was extended. Subsequently, it was Ortiz who had sequelae related to Covid-19 and could not be ready for the scheduled date, so the fight has been postponed twice.
Stanionis, 28 years old, is the champion of the category and comes from defeating Radzhab Butaev to win the belt last April 17, 2022. He is a fighter with a great background in amateur boxing and has a variation of tools ranging from a powerful punch to great exchange skills and decent technique for a fighter with an aggressive style like him.
Ortiz Jr. is considered one of the top prospects in all of boxing and is 25 years old. He comes off a nine round technical knockout victory over Michel McKinson last August. He is an aggressive and powerful boxer that demolishes his opponents and comes with the great motivation of being in his first world title fight.
All promotional activities for the fight will take place this week in San Antonio, including fighter arrivals, press conference, public workouts and the weigh-in next Friday.
Stanionis has 14 wins, 9 of them by knockout, while Ortiz has knocked out all 19 opponents he has faced in his professional career.
Credit: WBA