Eimantas Stanionis relied on perseverance as anything else to remain unbeaten on the Jaron Ennis-Sergey Lipinets card Saturday.
The Lithuanian got off to a slow start against an inspired Thomas Dulorme but kept the pressure on the Puerto Rican to win a unanimous decision in the welterweight title eliminator in Uncasville, Conn.
The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113. Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Stanionis.
Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) was at his best in the fight, courtesy of new trainer Ismael Salas, whose strategy was to have his protege stick and move. And he did it beautifully much of the fight, forcing Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs) to chase him down.
The problem for Dulorme is that he began to tire by mid-fight, at which time Stanionis was picking up steam. Stanionis began to cut off the ring and land punishing shots, which forced Dulorme to hold at times.
Dulorme stayed with the game plan until the final bell; he simply couldn’t do it as effectively down the stretch. That allowed Stanionis to pull away on the scorecards.
Stanionis said afterward that he believes he belongs in the Top 10 in a deep division but acknowledged that he still has a lot to learn after only 13 professional fights.
Dulorme might argue that Stanionis has learned quite a bit already.