Boxing Rivals Staniosis and Maestre Collide in Las Vegas Title Showdown
Eimantas Staniosis believes he has surpassed his former amateur rival Gabriel Maestre as they prepare to clash for the WBA welterweight title on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The two fighters first met in the ring in 2015 as amateurs, with Staniosis emerging victorious in a close decision. Both were expected to compete at the Rio Olympics a year later, but they were both eliminated, and Staniosis turned professional in 2017, while Maestre followed suit two years later.
“I think he is a great fighter,” admitted the 29-year-old Staniosis. “We fought each other on the amateur scene in 2015 at the world championships in Qatar. He is a good fighter with a lot of experience in the amateur scene, but this is now the professional scene and it’s a little different.”
Staniosis believes that the eight-year gap since their last encounter has allowed him to mature and develop as a fighter. “I’ve got much more man strength,” he said. “When I was a kid, I was fighting at 69 kilos at 20 years old. I was a kid boxing at that weight. I was a late grower, but now I have my man strength and more experience, which has come with age.”
The Lithuanian champion has also had the opportunity to learn from sparring with seasoned professionals like Jose Ramirez, Erislandy Lara, Shawn Porter, and even the legendary Miguel Cotto. “Those were good experiences,” he said. “I only trained one camp with him [Cotto], but we did a lot of conditioning work, and he is a very nice guy. He is quiet, very disciplined and trains very hard.”
While Maestre has been fast-tracked to this title shot, Staniosis believes he has the advantage of having faced tougher opposition on his way up, including Thomas Dulorme and Luis Collazo. “These guys have helped me a lot,” he said. “In my last fight, I fought for a title and felt lots of pressure. I fought an undefeated, good guy [Radzhab Butaev, 14-0], and everyone was scared to fight him. In that fight, I did learn a lot.”
Staniosis is confident that his experience and development as a professional boxer will be the difference on Saturday night as he looks to defend his WBA welterweight title against his former amateur rival.
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