Vergil Ortiz pulls out of his fight with Eimantas Stanionis on Saturday
The fight between 147-pound contenders Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis scheduled for Saturday in San Antonio (DAZN) was postponed after Ortiz reportedly was taken to a hospital after passing out.
No other information above Ortiz’s condition or the status of the matchup was made available.
This is the third time the fight has been pushed back. It was scheduled for March but was postponed when Eimantas underwent an emergency appendectomy. Then, after it was reset for April, it was pushed back again when a blood disorder sidelined Ortiz.
The rest of the event on Saturday will go on as scheduled, with lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield (14-0, 11 KOs) facing Haskell Rhodes (28-4-1, 13 KOs) in the main event.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our fighters, and we of course support Vergil’s decision 100 percent,” his promoter, Golden Boy, said in a formal statement. “This unfortunate event does however open the door for one of Golden Boy’s top prospects, Floyd Schofield, to accelerate his profile by headlining in his home state of Texas.
“We will, as always, put on a high-action card from top to bottom on July 8 and look forward to showcasing all of our fighters both in San Antonio and on DAZN.”
Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs), who has battled both the blood disorder (rhabdomyolysis) and long COVID, told Boxing Junkie last week that he felt 100% healthy for the first time in years.
He last fought this past August, when he knocked out Michael McKinson in nine rounds. That was his only fight over the past two years.
Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) is coming off a split-decision victory over Radzhab Butaev in April.