Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Eimantas Stanionis bout postponed, Ortiz falls ill

Vergil Ortiz is injured again.

NYFights reported late Wednesday evening that the Eimantas Stanionis-Vergil Ortiz WBA 'Regular' welterweight title fight was postponed for the second time.

Ortiz was forced to pull out from a scheduled April 29 date with Stanionis after suffering an undisclosed illness. Sources reporting to NYFights say the sickness is similar in nature from last March 18 that caused him to be pulled from the main event of a DAZN show when he was hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis just ahead of fight week for a battle with England’s Michael McKinson. The bout was rescheduled for August 13, and Ortiz scored a ninth-round knockout.

The revelation comes nearly three months after the high-stakes matchup was moved from its original March 18 date when Stanionis was hospitalized and forced to undergo emergency appendectomy surgery.

This time, it is the 25-year-old Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) who has been struck down with an illness for the second time in three scheduled fights.

Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) was set to defend his secondary 147-pound title for first time. He won the belt last April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, where the 28-year-old Lithuanian defeated previously unbeaten contender Radzhab Butaev by split decision. The 12-round bout took place on the undercard of the welterweight title unification between Errol Spence Jr. and Yordenis Ugas.

It remains unclear Stanionis will remain on the card, or if the entire show will be canceled.

Ortiz petitioned the WBA last September to have his mandatory challenger title status enforced in a showdown with Stanionis while both fighters were struck in a holding pattern awaiting a shot at the welterweight division's only titlists, WBA “Super”, WBC, IBF champ Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) and WBO titleholder Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs).

Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Ortiz, submitted a winning purse bid of $2,300,000 to out monetize Stanionis' TGB Promotions, which came up short at $2,100,010, to secure the rights to the highly-anticipated welterweight entanglement.

For now, the secondary title will remain in the possession of Stanionis, who awaits for his next opportunity to fight again.