29 years old Eimantas Stanionis (14-0-0, 9 KOs) will return to the ring after a 2-year hiatus. The regular WBA welterweight world champion from Lithuania will fight the 37-year-old Venezuelan this weekend, May 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (USA) Gabriel Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs).
This fight could not have happened if not for the scandalous 2021. August 7 evening Then, after a 12-round fight, G. Maestre won a controversial unanimous decision (115:112, 117:110, 114:113) against the American Mykal Fox.
G. Maestre was called the clear favorite for the fight, but his problems started even before the first round. Mr. Fox’s trainer and father, Troy, noticed that Mr. Maestre had his hands folded too high and his gloves tied too high. This would have given him an unfair advantage, as the gloves would fit better on the teeth and G. Maestre would have been able to hit with more force. Ring referee Mark Nelson, after T. Fox’s protests, also saw that G. Maestre was trying to cheat. He then went to the Venezuelan’s corner and asked who signed that the gloves were on according to the rules. It turns out that no one had done this, although the representatives of the commission were obliged to observe the whole process.
There were rumors that G. Maestre should be disqualified, but the judge allowed the Venezuelan to rectify the situation. G. Maestre tied his hands again, put on his gloves and went to fight. In the ring, the troubles of the Venezuelan did not end – already in the second round G. Maestre fell to a knockdown. M. Fox landed 157 accurate punches during the fight, while G. Maestre had 131. Add the fact that the Venezuelan was knocked down and the American was on his feet throughout the fight, and M. Fox’s victory should not be in doubt, but none of the judges gave it to him. did not distinguish, and the judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo, who is notorious for racist messages about black people, saw an almost overwhelming advantage of G. Maestre – 117:110.
After that scandal, Mr. Fox, it seems, never recovered. in 2022 the American returned to the ring and lost by a clear margin Egidius Kavaliauskas – the American was knocked down twice and lost almost all rounds.
Now M.Fox, seeing that G.Maestre will fight with E.Stanionius, pours his grievances on the social network.
“I still haven’t come to terms with the outcome of that fight – I’m just not one to express my emotions very much. Mine knows what happened that night. Maestre knows that too,” M. Fox wrote.
The American also wrote a short comment about E. Stanionis: “Stanionis refused to fight against me 3 times.”
G. Maestre was asked by FightHype before the fight with E. Stanionis about the scandalous victory over M. Fox: “I understand well what happened that night. I received a lot of criticism then. However, I had two great fights last year. Now I want to show everyone how much I have improved. Time to forget those old things. I want to show the fans the best version of me.”
Fox hasn’t fought in over a year and a half. The American in the welterweight category stands out for his height (192 cm) and the length of his outstretched arms (206 cm).
