A fight destined to go to a purse is heading that very way.
Eimantas Stanionis’ WBA welterweight title defense against Shakhram Giyasov will be made available to the highest bidder. The ordered bond is scheduled for a Nov. 8 purse hearing, the WBA announced Wednesday.
Efforts were made between their respective teams to reach an agreement within and even after the deadline. Stanionis fights under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner, but is represented on paper by TGB Promotions. Giyasov is with Matchroom Boxing and World of Boxing.
Whatever progress has been made has not been enough to sway the sport’s oldest sanctioning body to go down this route.
“The committee ordered the fight last September 19,” said WBA Championship Committee Chairman Carlos Chavez. “The regulatory period of one month to carry out the negotiations … expired on October 19 without obtaining an answer on an agreement.
“The bid will have a purse spread of 75% for the champion and 25% for the challenger. The minimum amount to acquire the rights to the fight will be US $ 150,000.00.”
Julio Thyme, vice-chairman of the WBA Championship Committee, will oversee the process from WBA’s US headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Stanionis (15-0. 9 KOs) was upgraded to full WBA welterweight title after Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) relinquished his belt. The 30-year-old from Lithuania has previously held the WBA ‘Regular’ title since April 2022, but has only submitted one title defence. It came in a May 4 win over Gabriel Maestre on the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia undercard in Las Vegas.
The win came more than two years after his April 2022 title win over Radzhab Butaev.
Stanionis’ blank campaign in 2023 was largely due to the failed efforts by Vergil Ortiz Jr. to make his way to the ring. Their mandatory title fight has been postponed three times – once due to a Stanionis injury and twice due to illness suffered by Ortiz. PBC then scaled back its second-half schedule, leaving Stanionis — a 2016 Olympian — cold on the sidelines.
Uzbekistan’s Giyasov (16-0, 9 KOs) became the mandatory after decision wins over Harold Calderon and Pablo Cesar Cano. In his most recent start, he defeated 2016 Olympic silver medalist Miguel Parra via split decision on July 31 in Santa Monica, California. The card kicked off fight week for Riyadh Season’s US launch in Los Angeles.
Giyasov has now gone the distance in five straight starts. He will be entering his first career title fight.
As is the case with all wallet offers, both parties can still reach an agreement up to 15 minutes before the start of the session. The WBA has previously shown considerable flexibility with both PBC and Matchroom in accepting verbal agreements – even those that never produce an actual fight.
