The Vergil Ortiz vs. Eimantas Stanionis fight scheduled for March 18 has been postponed after Stanionis underwent an emergency appendectomy.

Stanionis (14-0, 9 knockouts) added in a tweet on Saturday that he will have to take two to three weeks off from the gym, but is hoping that the fight can be rescheduled in April.

“Been through tough times, but this one is hard,” Stanionis tweeted. “Half year I was expecting a fight date…you get a fight date and this happens.”

The mandatory fight is for a secondary WBA welterweight title held by Stanionis, which theoretically could line the winner up for a major fight in a division with no shortage of talent.

The bout was to be a serious step-up for the 24-year-old Ortiz from Dallas, Texas, with some pundits describing the matchup against the 28-year-old Lithuanian as a toss-up bout.

If the fight is scheduled for April, Stanionis will have been out of the ring for about a year, having last fought on April 16, 2022, when he won a split decision over Radzhab Butaev. Ortiz last fought in August, stopping Michael McKinson in nine rounds.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].

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