Vergil Ortiz Jr. Returns To Face Eimantas Stanionis On July 8th

Vergil Ortiz Jr. will make his return to the ring on July 8th, 2023, to face Eimantas Stanionis, the WBA regular welterweight champion, from the College Park Center, Texas.

Ortiz, who still remains undefeated, has been out of the ring since his TKO victory over Michael McKinson last year.

While that may have been the case, Mike Coppinger reports that Ortiz, whose record stands at 19-0 with 19 knockouts, has been struggling with COVID-19 intermittently since 2020.

“Vergil Ortiz Jr. will return July 8 vs. Eimantas Stanionis now that he’s recovered from rhabdomyolysis and discovered it was caused by long COVID. The fight has already been postponed twice.

“It was set for March 18 before Stanionis, 28, underwent an emergency appendectomy in January in Lithuania. A second postponement came when Ortiz dealt with a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, pushing the fight from its April 29 date,”

“Ortiz was fully cleared last month after being treated by Dr. Juan Bautista in Fresno, California, who diagnosed him with long COVID following a battery of tests,” Coppinger

And yet, Ortiz has managed to win fights despite being unwell for the past three years, beating McKinson, Samuel Vargas, Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and Maurice Hooker.

Therefore, there is plenty to show that Ortiz will be ready. After all, this fight has been delayed on two occasions already. 

This has also been due to struggles that Stanionis has had to deal with. He had to undergo an emergency surgery for an appendectomy. 

Victory for either fighter would put them in line to face Errol Spence Jr. as a mandatory for the WBA welterweight title.

And if Spence cannot make the elusive undisputed fight with Terrence Crawford, then that will benefit the winner.