Looks like we’ve got another cursed matchup on our hands, as Jake Donovan and Mike Coppinger report that Vergil Ortiz Jr has withdrawn from his April 29th eliminator against Eimantas Stanionis due to an unspecified medical issue.
This marks the bout’s second delay, as an initial March 18th date fell through when Stanionis (14-0, 9 KO) needed an emergency appendectomy. It’s also Ortiz’s (19-0, 19 KO) second withdrawal in around a year, having pulled out of a March 2022 bout with Michael McKinson due to rhabdomyolysis.
As we’ve said before, it’s a genuinely strong matchup with huge action potential, so sucks to see it kicked down the road once again. All we can do for now is recklessly speculate on what Ortiz is going through; there were rumblings that he actually pulled out of the McKinson fight due to weight issues, but a month out feels awful early for that to be the case here.