Eimantas Stanionis vs. Jabulani Makhense - September 27, 2025

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Eimantas Stanionis will face Jabulani Makhense in Lithuania homecoming bout

Eimantas Stanionis now has an official opponent for his long overdue homecoming headliner.

The former WBA welterweight titleholder will face South Africa’s Jabulani Makhense atop a September 27 show at Zalgiris Arena in his hometown of Kaunas, Lithuania. The scheduled ten-round welterweight bout will mark Stanionis’ first pro appearance in his native country.

The event comes on the heels of his first career defeat. Stanionis, 15-1 (9 KOs; 1 No-Contest) was stopped after six rounds by Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, 34-0 (30 KOs) in their WBA-IBF 147lbs unification bout on April 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Stanionis, a 2016 Olympian for Lithuania, claimed the secondary version of the WBA title in April 2022 and was upgraded to full titlist when Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs) moved up to 154lbs last summer. His primary title reign came without a successful defense, as he hadn’t fought since a May 2024 win over Gabriel Maestre prior to his abovementioned defeat to Ennis.

The wide gap between fights is, unfortunately, a recurring theme in Stanionis’ pro career. The win over Maestre marked his lone secondary title defense, having not fought since his April 2022 split decision victory over Radzhab Butaev.

Ennis, Maestre and Butaev were all unbeaten at the time they faced Stanionis, in bouts spread out over three years.

Makhens, 16-2 (8 KOs), will fight outside of South Africa for just the second time in his nine-year pro career.

The 32-year-old fringe welterweight contender from Pretoria, Gauteng also takes a considerable leap in competition. He enters this assignment having won his last two starts in May and June following a 20-month ring absence after a September 2023 twelve-round, unanimous decision to unbeaten Vitaly Petryakov on the road in Almetyevsk, Russia.

In addition to the homecoming, Stanionis gets a much-needed second fight on the year. He has not enjoyed that rate of activity since 2021, a year where his second fight was a truncated, five-round No-Contest with former WBA welterweight titlist Luis Collazo.

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EIMANTAS STANIONIS TO RETURN SEPT. 27 VS. JABULANI MAKHENSE

Former WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis is ready to kick off his comeback campaign.

Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) will face Jabulani Makhense (16-2, 8 KOs) on Sept. 27 in a homecoming fight at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. The 10-round fight was announced Tuesday at a catchweight of 150 pounds.

The occasion will mark the first time Stanionis, a 2016 Lithuanian Olympian, has fought on home soil as a professional.

Stanionis is looking to get back into the win column after his first career loss, a sixth-round stoppage against Jaron Ennis in a welterweight title unification fight in April. Ennis came in as the IBF champion and walked away with the vacant Ring title and Stanionis' WBA belt, as well.

The one-sided beating ended when Ennis knocked Stanionis down in the sixth, forcing his corner to stop the fight.

Despite the setback, Stanionis is still ranked No. 2 by The Ring at 147 pounds, behind only WBO champion Brian Norman Jr.

The unknown Makhense is a 32-year-old from South Africa who has fought all but one of his fights in his home country over his nine-year career.

Stanionis will be fighting twice in the same calendar year for the first time since 2021. It’s a welcome development for the 30-year-old, who told The Ring before the Ennis fight that he gets “crazy and depressed with demons when he’s not fighting.”

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This month

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Fight Week!!

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Stanionis won a wide unanimous decision.

Scores were 99-91, 100-90, 99-91..