Undefeated welterweight phenom Vergil Ortiz of Grand Prairie will return to North Texas to make his first world title shot. Ortiz will battle WBA "regular" World Champion Eimantas Stanionis of Lithuania.
The bout went to purse bids and was won by Golden Boy Promotions back in December for $ 2.3 million and will take place in the DFW area on March 18th. No Venue has been announced yet. However, each fighter fought their last bout in the DFW Metroplex. Ortiz fought in August and stopped Michael McKinson at the Dickie's Arena in Fort Worth and Stanionis fought at AT&T Stadium and outpointed Radzhab Butaev to capture the WBA title.
The bigger news is the winner of the bout will be the mandatory challenger for the WBA "Super" World Champion, which happens to be Errol Spence of DeSoto. This means if Ortiz wins, which he will be favored to, a long-awaited all-DFW Shootout with Spence will be mandated by the WBA.
Ortiz is 24 years old and has long been considered one of the premier prospects in the sport. The Grand Prairie native sports a perfect 19-0 (19) record. Stanionis is also undefeated at 14-0 (9).