Eimantas Stanionis might not be following the orthodox path of today’s other boxing champions, but remaining true to himself has got him to the point of standing as an unbeaten WBA welterweight champion.
So who’s to question him?
The Lithuanian Stanionism, 15-0 (11 KOs), has rebuffed all interview requests this week as he completes training camp at Hollywood’s Wild Card Boxing Club under cornerman Marvin Somodio for his April 12 unification bout against Philadelphia’s unbeaten IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis 33-0 (29 KOs).
While publicity is invaluable as a fight of such consequence nears, Stanionis maintains an old-school philosophy, believing trash talk ranks far behind diligent preparation on the big-fight checklist of tasks.
“Neither guy is really talking, which is good, because that likely means you’ll see everything they have to say in the ring,” Stanionis publicist Mario Serrano told BoxingScene this week.
Stanionis maintained a similarly determined stance as negotiations with Ennis reached a critical point during the winter.
Tom Brown of TGB Promotions revealed to BoxingScene that he was prepared to pull Stanionis out of the Ennis fight and move on to a WBA mandatory bout against unbeaten Shakhram Giyasov.
“He’s the only reason this fight got made,” Brown said of Stanionis. “Our side was going to walk away because I wasn’t happy with the terms.”
Out of courtesy, Brown called Stanionis before he called the Giyasov team.
“No, do not let this [Ennis] fight go,” Stanionis told Brown. “I want this fight.”
Stanionis’ reasoning was simple.
“He wants to prove he’s the best welterweight in the world. He knows everybody’s saying that Ennis is the best right now. But Stanionis believes he can win,” Brown said.
To reflect, Ennis was coming off a lackluster, defensively flawed November victory over Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9 and balked at a junior-middleweight fight against Vergil Ortiz Jnr, saying he wanted to be the undisputed welterweight champion.
Talks for a bout with new WBO champion Brian Norman Jnr fizzled, leaving Ennis with little leverage as WBC champion Mario Barrios Jnr had a November draw with Abel Ramos.
Brown felt Ennis promoter Eddie Hearn was offering Stanionis “not an unfair amount … but it’s worth more,” and Stanionis could have turned to either Norman or fellow Premier Boxing Champions fighter Barrios.
Instead, Stanionis dug in on Ennis.
And while Ennis was criticized for avoiding a fight with Ortiz that Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh wanted, it was Stanionis who twice signed up to fight Ortiz, only to see Ortiz fall ill before the weigh-in on one occasion to scrap the bout.
“Stanionis was there in Ortiz’s home state, waiting in a Texas hotel room when he got word the fight was off,” Brown said. “This is a fighter who got where he is because he ducks no one.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
