Eimantas Stanionis vs. Vergil Ortiz | DAZN - OFF

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sources: Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Eimantas Stanionis bout postponed

The welterweight fight between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Eimantas Stanionis, scheduled for April 29 in Arlington, Texas, has been postponed after Ortiz was forced to withdraw with an unspecified medical issue, sources told ESPN.

The 147-pound fight is expected to be rescheduled for this summer, sources said. It was originally set for March 18 but was delayed after Stanionis underwent an emergency appendectomy in his native Lithuania in January.

Ortiz, one of boxing's fastest-rising stars, was forced to postpone a fight with Michael McKinson last March after he was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle tissue that releases the damaging protein myoglobin into the blood, which can lead to kidney damage. Ortiz went on to score a ninth-round TKO of McKinson in August.

Oritz's promoter, Golden Boy, won the rights to the WBA "regular" welterweight title fight with a bid of $2.3 million. Stanionis won the secondary title with a split-decision victory over Radzhab Butaev in April and is entitled to 75% of the winning bid, while Ortiz will earn much more than the $575,000 he's set to make via the purse bid.

The bout shapes up as a coin-flip matchup between two pressure fighters in one of boxing's best weight classes.

Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) is rated No. 4 by ESPN at welterweight. The 25-year-old, who fights out of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, broke through last year with a pair of stoppage wins over Maurice Hooker and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) is ESPN's No. 6 boxer at 147 pounds. The 28-year-old also owns a win over Thomas Dulorme.

[lenny.boxing]

not again... Speedy recovery to Ortiz.

[Ruthless-RKO]

not again... Speedy recovery to Ortiz.

I hope it's not to do with weight.

[Counter-puncher]

'unspecified medical issues' .....

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[margaret thatcher]

sheeyat, this sucks boar balls, it was a good fight

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[Evander]

This looked liked a good match up.

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Vergil Ortiz Jr. cleared for July 8 bout vs. Eimantas Stanionis

Vergil Ortiz Jr. will return July 8 vs. Eimantas Stanionis now that he's recovered from rhabdomyolysis and discovered it was caused by long COVID, Ortiz told ESPN on Thursday.

The 147-pound contest -- Ortiz's fourth consecutive in his native Texas -- pits top-10 welterweights with plenty of power (Ortiz is No. 3 in ESPN's rankings; Stanionis is No. 6.)

The fight has already been postponed twice. It was set for March 18 before Stanionis, 28, underwent an emergency appendectomy in January in Lithuania. A second postponement came when Ortiz, 25, dealt with a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, pushing the fight from its April 29 date.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, rhabdomyolysis occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. These substances can damage the heart and kidneys and cause permanent disability or even death.

Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) said he was fully cleared last month after being treated by Dr. Juan Bautista in Fresno, California, who diagnosed him with long COVID following a battery of tests.

"I actually had a hunch that that's what it was, but I didn't know too much about it -- I'm not a doctor," Ortiz said. " ... I've never felt this good in a good maybe three or four years. ... I'm still training hard ... that was never the problem. ... I'm noticing that I'm not huffing and puffing and I just feel great overall. ... I can't explain how good I feel compared to how I was."

Ortiz, who received two shots of the Moderna vaccine, said he first contracted COVID during training camp for his July 2020 fight with Samuel Vargas, whom he knocked out in Round 6.

"I could not breathe," Ortiz said. "I was struggling to keep my composure during that interview right after the fight, man. But I could not breathe at all, and it just kept getting worse after that fight."

He was sick with COVID again ahead of his next outing, a seventh-round KO of Maurice Hooker in March 2021. After the fight, Ortiz's father and trainer, Vergil Ortiz Sr., said his son's skin turned red.

"I wanted to call [the fight] off, and he didn't want to call it off," Ortiz Sr. said. "He pretty much begged with me, and he promised me that he would beat this guy and not to call it off. So, what do you tell your boy who's training through COVID and looking drunk and dizzy because he's so sick. ... I could see it in his body and his muscles ... it was attacking his muscles."

Ortiz contracted COVID a third time afterward, and in March 2022, was forced to withdraw from a fight vs. Michael McKinson after he was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis.

Ortiz went on to score a ninth-round TKO of McKinson in August and hasn't competed since. During that time away from the ring, Ortiz heard the claims on social media that his condition was because he overtrained or simply couldn't make 147 pounds anymore.

"It can be mentally draining sometimes, I'm not going to lie," Ortiz said. "It's very frustrating sometimes ... when they're speaking on something that they don't know, but I mean, that's just how life is. And luckily, I try to keep a positive mentality and just try to ignore all the buzz and noise outside and just focus on myself."

Ortiz Sr. said it was difficult to know it was COVID because his son was nearly lapping the other fighters on their 5-mile runs. "He's so used to pushing through it," Ortiz Sr. said.

Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews missed two months of the NHL season due to the effects of long COVID (and chronic immune response system) before he returned for the final seven games.

Ortiz is ready to return, too, after he was treated by Bautista for one month in Fresno, California. The doctor, who has a medical degree from Northwestern University, said Ortiz is 100% following a treatment plan that included flushing Ortiz's system with fluids, a hyperbaric oxygen system, and thrice-a-week IVs that delivered antioxidant-rich nutrients such as vitamin C and magnesium.

"It was not at all due to overtraining ... the reason Vergil developed rhabdomyolysis is because he had a very tough bout of COVID," said Bautista, who practices integrative medicine at Bautista Health & Anti-Aging. " ... It's an inflammatory disorder.

"With athletes, we tend to see that inflammation on the heart. We tend to see that inflammation on the muscles. ... Vergil took some time off, but that didn't cure or take care of his inflammation."

Ortiz's inflammation levels were examined via a creatine kinase (CK) test, which measures the amount of creatine kinase in the blood. Bautista said that anything above 200 is abnormal, and that Ortiz's CK levels were approaching 4,000.

Following the one-month treatment program, Bautista continues to measure Ortiz's CK levels weekly to ensure the inflammatory markers aren't returning. The levels dropped from 4,000 to 400 to under 200 and finally, normal.

Ortiz uses the hyperbaric oxygen chamber daily and removed many inflammatory foods from his diet. He's now in training camp in Southern California ahead of his toughest test yet, a July 8 fight vs. Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs).

"I've been so inactive, it's depressing when you're just at home and you feel like a bum and you know you should be out there," Ortiz said. " ... I'm trying to show them that I'm here like I never left."

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[golden_labrador]

if it's long covid, he's lucky to be back to 100%. Exciting fighter though and one of my faves

After his Covid, Povetkin definitely looked ready for the scrapyard in the Whyte rematch, barely made it to the ring without falling over.

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Press Release | Undercard Information | Schofield, Esparza-Alaniz Unification, Joseph Diaz

The undercard has been finalized for the highly anticipated clash between undefeated knockout sensation Vergil Ortiz, Jr. (19-0, 19 KOs) of Grand Prairie, Texas and World Champion Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) of Kaunas, Lithuania for Stanionis’ WBA "regular" welterweight title.

In the chief supporting role, Golden Boy’s blue-chip prospect Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield (14-0, 11 KOs) will be looking to dazzle the crowd yet again after a ferocious second-round knockout victory against Jesus Valentin Leon on the Davis vs. Garcia undercard on April 22. Presented in association with Davies Entertainment, Schofield will measure up against Haskell “Hackman” Rhodes (28-4-1, 13 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada in a 10-round lightweight fight.

On the DAZN broadcast with a unification bout, the WBA, WBC world champion Marlen Esparza (13-1, 1 KOs) of Houston, Texas will take a step closer to her dream to become the first-ever undisputed female flyweight champion of the world when she faces WBO World Champion of Buenos Aires, Argentina Gabriela Alaniz (14-0, 6 KOs) in a 10-round flyweight fight. Esparza returns to the ring after an impressive showing against Eva Guzman last August 2022 on the Ortiz, Jr. vs. MicKinson undercard.

Opening the broadcast with a redemptive return to the ring after re-signing a multi-fight contract with Golden Boy, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) will also be on the DAZN undercard in a 10-round lightweight fight. Diaz’s opponent will also be announced in the coming weeks.

On the preliminary card with an eight-round super welterweight fight, Romanian-American hot prospect Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) of Fort Lauderdale, Florida will square off against Reggie Harris, Jr. (7-3, 3 KOs) of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tudor made waves and gained a massive following on the undercard of Diaz, Jr. vs. Gesta this past March 2023, where he was in a toe-to-toe matchup against Damoni Cato-Cain.

Also in the prelims, Tristan Kalkreuth (10-1, 7 KOs) of Duncanville, Texas will fight Jaime Solorio (12-5-2, 9 KOs) of Ensenada, Mexico in a six-round cruiserweight match. Opening fight night with four-rounds of light heavyweight action, Houston’s Darius “DFG” Fulghum (5-0, 5 KOs) will fight Ricardo Medina (1-4) of San Antonio.

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Fight Week!!

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Ortiz has to withdraw!

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[Sweet Dick Willie]

Shit... Was really looking forward to this again

[margaret thatcher]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurck

[victor-romeo]

I was looking forward to watching this.. oh well.....

[margaret thatcher]

they made it extra painful by fighting so close to fight day, was getting pumped for this one, ortiz needs to get his sh!t staight

staniionis getting his career stagnated by this sheeyat

[Sweet Dick Willie]

they made it extra painful by fighting so close to fight day, was getting pumped for this one, ortiz needs to get his sh!t staight

staniionis getting his career stagnated by this sheeyat

The first postponement was because of Stanionis though wasn't it

[Ruthless-RKO]

they made it extra painful by fighting so close to fight day, was getting pumped for this one, ortiz needs to get his sh!t staight

staniionis getting his career stagnated by this sheeyat

The first postponement was because of Stanionis though wasn't it

I believe so..

[AngryGoon38]

"Vergil Ortiz" will obviously have to take some time off and re-evaluate things at this point in time.

Oscar DeLahoya said in a very recent interview that this is the third time that Vergil Fainted while in training, and Oscar has basically thus concluded that Vergil Will Very likely have to move up to 154, in order to be able to continue with his Boxing Carear.

Hopefully moving up to 154 will be The Sweet Spot for Vergil. And hopefully he becomes Properly Acclimated to that specific weight-class, and thrives in That weight-division. Someone commented in the "Oscar Delahoya" interview video that Vergil Might wind up Ultimately Having to move up to 160, being that 154 "Could be Still Too Much Dehydrating for Vergil", especially at this point in time, where he's recently had not one or two, but now "Three fainting Spells".
Imo, Vergil Could Definitely Still be a Force to be reckoned with, even at 160. He'd most certainly feel Extra Strong in that weight-division. It would just come down to how well he can take a punch from a hard hitting Middleweight.