Before the special fight, Eimantas Stanionis remembered the difficult period of waiting: “It seemed that I had no life”

The fight for the WBA regular welterweight world champion will take place on May 4. (May 5, Lithuanian time) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (USA). The Lithuanian will return to the ring after a two-year break.

“I feel good. It’s been a very long time without a fight, but it’s finally here, it’s close. Of course, it was very close the other time too. It doesn’t seem like everything is a reality yet, but the finish line is near, so I hope everything will be fine”, E. Stanionis told the tv3.lt news portal.

The Lithuanian is currently preparing for his fight in the USA, in Los Angeles, where the last hours are ticking before the long-awaited fight. While communicating with tv3.lt, the athlete talked about the long waiting period, the fulfillment of his dream and his future plans.

Fourth time – guaranteed

As already mentioned, E. Stanionis’ fights that were supposed to take place before that have already been canceled three times. Before that, Vergil Ortiz was supposed to be the Lithuanian’s opponent.

The first confrontation between these fighters was supposed to take place on March 18 last year, but E. Stanioniis needed an urgent appendicitis operation. It was later rescheduled for April 29, but had to be canceled due to the opponent’s health issues.

A third fight was scheduled for July 9, but before the press conference, the fight was canceled and it was announced that Ortiz had been taken to the hospital.

“As they say, the fourth time must be a guarantee, everything must be fine,” E. Stanionis laughed when asked if there was more excitement after so many failed plans. “I hope it will be fine.”

Not only he hopes for that, but also many fans of the athlete in Lithuania. True, E. Stanionis revealed that too much attention caused him inconvenience.

“Of course, there is a lot of internal support, the whole nation, I think, stands behind me. Of course, there was a difficult period when Lithuania asked me every day when I will fight, when I will fight, how everything is going, how my situation is with the organizers and managers, and I just couldn’t explain it so simply.

It was hard to hear every day because I also want to fight and I’m being questioned. But finally everything is here, it seems very close,” he said hopefully.

This time the opponent is different, but not unfamiliar. The Lithuanian has already had a fight with G. Maestre.

“He won his last fight by knockout, so he got this position to fight for the world championship belt. I fought him in the amateurs nine years ago, but of course it has nothing to do with it. The pros are a lot different – smaller gloves, I’m more mature than when I was fighting. I am ready for anything,” the interviewer said decisively.

It is true, although now, it seems, the fight should already take place, but after the third canceled meeting, more than one announcement of E. Stanion’s fight appeared in the media, although it did not turn into reality. The athlete himself admitted that he signed many contracts, but something always failed.

“Management matters, organizer matters, boxing politics. Many things came together, I just happened to be in the wrong place and at the wrong time,” he explained.

Dream come true

This fight will be special not only for E. Stanionis, who has been waiting for the opportunity to enter the ring for two years. The event will take place during what is known as Cinco de Mayo, which is a big Mexican holiday.

“Cinco de Mayo will be the day of Mexican independence, it will certainly be a big event, there will be many people, it will be very interesting”, the interviewer was happy about the events that took place.

“Cinco de Mayo” should benefit the Lithuanian, as he can get more support, even though the audience will not be familiar.

“Of course, the fans should support me, because I fight in the Mexican style,” explained E. Stanionis.

The fight between Lietuvio and G. Maestre will take place before the final duel, in which the well-known Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Jaime Munguia will enter the ring.

“It’s really fun because I’m a big fan of Canelo. When he announced that I was going to fight him, it was really, really fun.

It was a dream of mine when I was a kid to fight in Las Vegas. Still, the mecca of boxing is America, and Las Vegas in particular. It will be really incredible”, E. Stanionis showed great attitude.

Waiting period

Although the athlete is now happy and looking forward to the scheduled fight, the past period was definitely not easy.

“I won’t lie, it was a difficult period. After that last fight that didn’t happen, I kept thinking I was going to fight next month, and again next month, and there was no official date.

You can say that I had no life at all, I lived in the waiting room and everyone around me. It’s not like I’m the only one waiting. It’s my whole family and my girlfriend – they were all waiting for that fight.

I say that when I go to the ring, when I hear the gong, when the fight starts, then I will be the happiest person in the world,” the interviewer said.

After E. Stanioniis plans collapsed for the last time, bitterness remained not only because of the canceled fight, but also because of the troubles in the organization. The Lithuanian, who had a contract with “Golden Boy”, later spoke openly about his experience and recommended young people not to rely on this organization.

“My manager and I flew to Texas. Their job is to find and change the tickets, but they couldn’t change the tickets, they said they didn’t have the budget and in reality I was stuck in Texas with my whole team, – the athlete shared his unpleasant experience. – Then the responsibility is all on me, I need to change the tickets, my coach came from Lithuania and it was not so easy.”

“I needed to put everything together, where the agents’ work was. They didn’t do anything, I had everything myself. We had to wait until the next day because we couldn’t fly out on the same day, they said they didn’t have the budget, which is funny because Golden Boy is a big organization. But that is already in the past, I don’t think about it anymore”, added E. Stanionis.

However, now the spirits are high not only because of the fun waiting, but also because of the peace of mind regarding the organizers:

I’ve fought in the Premier Boxing Champions organization for real since the beginning of my career and everything has always been smooth sailing, there’s never been anyone who stepped in or misunderstood you, written you off or ignored you.”

The decision about the Olympics is after the fight

At the moment, intensive training for E. Stanionis is over, but the next important stage awaits – weight loss.

“In fact, all the hard work has already been done. Now is the period of weight loss, the most unpleasant, – smiled the interviewer. – You need to lose a lot of kilos and dehydrate your body, so this week will be one of the more difficult, but still it’s part of my sport, part of my job and I have to do it.”

Less than a week before the gong announcing the start of the fight, E. Stanionis considers his form good, but emphasizes that the most important thing lies in the mind, not in physical preparation.

“I feel good, psychologically I am also in a good mood. Most importantly, I think I’m happy because it’s the finish line and it looks like I’m really going to fight. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most.

I miss it, I love this sport and I haven’t fought for a very long time, so I just want to get in the ring and, of course, defend the belt,” said the Lithuanian.

In May, an important date for E. Stanionis is not only the fight against G. Maestre, but also the Olympic selection in Thailand at the end of the month. However, the fighter could not confirm his participation in it.

“There were always plans and there are, but I will be able to answer this question only after the fight. There could be injuries, there could be anything, it’s not up to me. I have no idea what it will be like. Only then will I be able to answer,” he said.

Despite the uncertainty, E. Stanionis can say with certainty that he would really like to participate in the Olympic Games.

“The desire was always there. I said that if the fight didn’t happen or something changed, I would go immediately for sure. Now it seems that the fight will definitely take place, if there are no injuries, everything will be fine, then we will sit down and talk with the coach. My trainer will also come to America, to my fight, so we will be together and decide everything,” he promised.