Welterweight contenders Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis will face off on Saturday night in San Antonio.
VERGIL ORTIZ (19-0, 19 KOs) VS.
EIMANTAS STANIONIS (14-0, 9 KOs)
- Date: Saturday, July 8
- Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
- Where: AT&T Center, San Antonio
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Welterweight (147 pounds)
- At stake: No major titles
- Odds: Oritz 4-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Marlen Esparza vs. Gabriela Alaniz, flyweights (for Esparaza’s WBA and WBC titles); Floyd Schofield vs. Haskell Rhodes, lightweights; Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Jerry Perez, lightweights
- Prediction: Ortiz UD
- Background: Ortiz and Stanionis will face their toughest tests to date when they meet Saturday in San Antonio. Ortiz, a hard-punching 25-year-old from Dallas, has stopped all 19 of his opponents but has struggled to lure top welterweights into the ring until now. And he hasn’t been particularly active because of health issues, having entered the ring only four times since 2019. He last fought this past August, stopping previously unbeaten Michael McKinson in nine rounds. Ortiz told Boxing Junkie that he’s 100% healthy for the first time in years. Stanionis is a well-schooled, rugged 28-year-old from Lithuania. He competed in the 2016 Olympics, getting eliminated in the second round. He also has been perfect as a professional, although he has relied more on his ability and resilience than his punching power. He’s coming off a hard-fought split-decision victory over previously unbeaten Radzhab Butaev in April of last year. That means he will have been out of the ring for almost 15 months. The fight on Saturday is for the WBA’s secondary “world” title, which Boxing Junkie doesn’t recognize.
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