Vergil Ortiz Petitions WBA To Have Mandatory Status Enforced Against Eimantas Stanionis

There was a time when Vergil Ortiz Jr. was willing to stay active while waiting for a title shot or at least a big fight.

The undefeated welterweight contender is now aiming for those worlds to collide.

Ortiz has filed a petition with the WBA, which is seeking to enforce his mandatory title challenger status in a showdown with secondary WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis. Both fighters are stuck in a holding pattern waiting for a shot at the division’s top prize, as WBA/WBC/IBF “Super” champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22KOs) and WBO Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (38-0, 29KOs) continue to trade for an undisputed championship.

Ortiz hopes to shorten the waiting time when it comes to his own shot at the welterweight crown.

“One thing we’ve done, since I’m the WBA president or whatever… we reached out to the WBA and pushed the mandatory to fight Stanionis,” Ortiz revealed during a recent interview with The DAZN Boxing Show co-hosts, Akin’ Ak. Reyes and Barak Bess. “Hopefully we’ll get it by the end of this year.”

Ortiz (19-0, 19KOs) is the number one welterweight challenger in the latest WBA and WBO rankings, number two with the WBC and number three with the IBF. The 24-year-old knockout artist from Grand Prairie, Texas, clawed his way to the top of the WBA ranks following a ninth-round knockout of England’s Michael McKinson. His August 13 clash of undefeated welterweights was a sanctioned WBA title eliminator, specifically for the upcoming challenge Lithuania’s Stanionis (14-0, 9KOs; 1ND) who holds the ‘World’ (Regular) title of the WBA.

Stanionis twice agreed to step aside in lieu of his own shot at the WBA ‘Super’ title, the first time after initially refusing to bow in an ordered fight with then-champion Yordenis Ugas. He eventually granted his blessing for Ugas to face Spence first, in exchange for a shot at then-WBA ‘World’ (Regular) champion Radzhab Butaev and the promise of facing the winner of Spence-Ugas.

Spence dethroned Ugas via 10th-round injury stoppage, while Stanionis outpointed Butaev. However, the 2016 Lithuanian Olympian has agreed to withdraw as Spence is aiming for an undisputed championship showdown with Crawford. Stanionis is expected to land on the Spence-Crawford undercard, should the fight happen.

Ortiz, who was already aiming for a quick change by the end of the year at the latest, plans to give his opinion on the matter.

“Vergil wants his shot at a title, he wants the biggest fight out there to get him one step closer to Spence or Crawford,” Rick Mirigian, Ortiz’s manager, told BoxingScene.com. “At 147 years old, he has the best resume of anyone coming to challenge the throne. He knows the value of that prestigious WBA title and just wants the chance at it.

“We hope that Golden Boy Promotions (the promoter of Ortiz’s entire career) and the WBA can make it happen. Vergil is ready for anything that can be resolved between them. What a fight to finish the year if it is done”.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox