No one is happier than Eimantas Stanionis to get back into the ring.
The 147-pound contender hasn’t fought since he defeated Radzhab Butaev by a split decision to win a secondary title in April of 2022, two years ago. He remains unbeaten and a top welterweight but he lost two of his prime years.
He returns against Gabriel Maestre on the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia card May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Veags on DAZN Pay-Per-View.
“Yes, I’m excited,” Stanionis told Boxing Junkie. “The last time I flew to Texas and two days before the fight, the day before the weigh-in, the fight didn’t happen. It’s still hard to believe I’m fighting on May 4.
“Of course, when I saw it was official, I thought, ‘It’s amazing.’ Now we’re very close to the fight.”
Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) was referring to what would’ve been the biggest fight of his career, a meeting with Vergil Ortiz Jr. last July that was canceled at the last minute after Ortiz reportedly passed out as a result of dehydration.
That was the third attempt to stage the fight. It was originally scheduled for March of last year but Stanionis had to pull out because of an emergency appendectomy in January. Then, after it was rescheduled for April, Ortiz was unable to fight once more because of a recurrence of a serious muscle condition.
The parties gave up on the matchup after it was called off for a third time.
“It was a really hard time, a lot of frustration because of the fallouts. It is what it is. I’m past it now,” Stanionis said.
The 27-year-old from Lithuania had to make the best of a bad situation during his hiatus. He tried to stay sharp, to stay in reasonable condition, to keep his mind in the game so he would be ready when it was time to fight.
Stanionis said that he’s generally happy as long as the sun is shining. The problem, he added, is that the sun shines only about 90 days a year in his native country.
“It’s cloudy, dark,” he said. “You don’t always want to go to the gym. Sometimes you wake up and you feel like s—. It’s my job, though. I know the call can come at any time. It’s hard to keep weight all the time, eating healthy. It’s not a normal life.
“… You have to sleep, to rest. All the time you have to be disciplined. My fiancé told me, ‘You deserve better. Your time will come.’”
Finally it did. And he isn’t easing back into the game, as Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs) is a talented two-time Olympian with around 300 amateur fights who is on a fast track as a professional.
Stanionis and Maestre met once as amateurs in 2015, with Stanionis, a 2016 Olympian, winning a decision in a competitive fight. And he knows Maestre has made a strong impression as a pro, including a second-round knockout of then-unbeaten prospect Travon Marshall in his most recent fight.
Could Maestre be too much for a fighter who has been out of the ring for two years? Could rust be a significant problem?
Stanionis doesn’t believe so.
“Everybody says to me that ring rust can affect you,” he said. “… I don’t feel that at the moment. I feel zero ring rust. [But] I can answer that after what I feel. I’ve never had this long of a layoff. I don’t think about it. I know how to fight.
“I can wake up at 3 a.m., go to the ring and fight anywhere in the world. And that’s what I’ll do [against Maestre].”
Stanionis declined to reveal his plans if things go well, preferring to focus on the challenge at hand. We can only presume that he wants to take the next step up in opposition.
He was open about one goal, however: He wants to avoid long layoffs at all costs.
“This is what I love to do,” he said. “I want to stay active, that’s my main priority. I love to fight, I like to be in training camps. I do have something in mind, I do have a goal. I can’t say anything out loud.
“But if I’m not successful on May 4, everything is out the window.”