Eimantas Stanionis and Gabriel Maestre will star in one of the most interesting fights on the undercard of the event taking place this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Lithuanian will defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown against the Venezuelan in a bout that promises to be full of action and fierce exchanges.
The featured fight will be Saul Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia for the undisputed championship, which generates a great deal of attention along with all the bouts of the event. For Stanionis and Maestre it will be a rematch after their fight in the amateur division in 2015, in which the former won by unanimous decision.
Stanionis comes from a long inactivity due to different issues but now he is ready to return to the ring to seek the first defense of his crown. The 29-year-old fighter defeated Radzhab Butaev in 2022 to keep the belt and although he was going to return to the ring last year a last minute indisposition of his rival did not allow him to fight.
The challenger this time will be Gabriel Maestre, a two-time Olympian and Pan American champion who made the jump to the pro ranks in 2019 and has been earning his place in the pro ranks. At 37 years old, he has a great opportunity to get the belt and wants to take advantage of it.
The Venezuelan defeated Travon Marshall in his most recent fight last August. On that occasion he gave a beastly knockout against the prospect and now he will have a more complicated challenge.
Stanionis has a record of 14 wins, no losses and 9 knockouts. Maestre, on the other hand, has 6 wins, 1 draw and 5 knockouts.