Eimantas Stanionis waited more than two years for this moment.
The unwelcome 749-day ring absence ultimately came with a reward in the form of a lopsided decision over Gabriel Maestre. The battle of 2016 Olympians saw Stanionis prevail by scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 Saturday evening at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The win saw Stanionis defend his WBA ‘Regular’ welterweight title in the opening bout of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Prime/PPV.com pay-per-view headlined by Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia.
Ring rust was not evident in the steady attack of Lithuania’s Stanionis, who entered the ropes for the first time in nearly 25 months. A strong jab was key in the offensive attack for Stanionis, who shook off a left hook to land one of his own along with a right uppercut.
Maestre stood directly in front of the unbeaten secondary titlist and relied on upper body movement as his defense. He found just enough space to minimize the impact of Stanionis’ landed punches. However, the previously unbeaten Venezuelan was outlanded in every round, according to Compubox punch statistics.
Stanionis’ one consistent flaw throughout the fight was allowing Maestre to frequently land to the body. Maestre waded through power shots to dig his right hand and left hooks downstairs. Stanionis was momentarily slowed in round five but quickly recovered and powered forward to outwork Maestre.
Action slowed in rounds eight and nine, which at times worked to Maestre’s advantage. Stanionis still enjoyed the greater success during the majority of exchanges. However, he was warned by head trainer Marvin Somodio to not allow the two-time Olympian to steal those rounds.
Maestre was similarly instructed by Ismael Salas to pick up the pace as the fight entered the tenth round. The advice was expertly carried out, as Maestre consistently threw right hands upstairs.
Stanionis put an end to that early in round eleven. A second wind came over the 29-year-old, whose two-fisted attack upstairs put Maestre on the defensive. Maestre attempted to turn the tide midway through the round but was forced to clinch when Stanionis landed a combination upstairs.
ALL GAS 😤. There’s no pause in these punches from @e_stanionis 💥! #StanionisMaestre
Order #CaneloMunguia on PBC PPV at @PrimeVideo NOW: https://t.co/Eo0ySuxQuL pic.twitter.com/zGM5T5sd2N
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) May 5, 2024
Maestre offered one last gasp in the twelfth and final round. Stanionis refused to allow his foe to enjoy any sustained success, though he took a tumble to the canvas at fight’s end. The sequence was correctly ruled a slip by referee Robert Hoyle, to eliminate even the slightest hint of controversy.
Stanionis (15-0, 9 knockouts; 1 No-Contest) won his first fight since April 2022. Three efforts to schedule a title defense versus Vergil Ortiz Jr. ended with a cancellation and the bulk of his lengthy layoff.
Maestre fell to 6-1-1 (5 KOs). He previously held an interim title, though it came in a controversial win over Mykal Fox. Their August 2021 bout changed the manner in which the WBA assigned secondary titles, though they’ve since softened their stance.
At age 37, Maestre—a 2012 and 2016 Olympian for Venezuela—is perhaps on borrowed time, with limited options.
Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is the Ring, WBC, WBA ‘Super’ and WBO champ at welterweight. The Ring’s pound-for-pound king will next face WBA 154-pound titlist Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles.
Stanionis should be in line to challenge for the full WBA 147-pound title afterward or receive an upgrade if Crawford does not return to the weight.
For now, he will simply settle for activity in any form in 2024.
Stanionis-Maestre opened a four-fight PPV telecast, topped by the Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Jaime Munguia Ring/undisputed 168-pound championship.
Jake Donovan a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
