Vergil Ortiz Jr. Hospitalized, Withdraws from Fight vs. Eimantas Stanionis

Vergil Ortiz Jr. has pulled out of his WBA welterweight title bout against champion Eimantas Stanionis after reportedly being hospitalized.

Golden Boy Promotions released an official statement confirming the news on the fight, which was scheduled for Saturday.

Boxing journalist Dan Rafael provided more details on Ortiz, who reportedly fainted in the lead-up to the bout:

The 28-year-old Stanionis is 14-0 with nine knockouts. The 25-year-old Ortiz has won all 19 of his fights by knockout.

This isn't the first time the bout has been postponed, according to ESPN's Mike Coppinger:

"This is the third postponement for Ortiz-Stanionis. The fight featuring two of ESPN's top-5 welterweights was set for March 18 before Stanionis, 28, underwent an emergency appendectomy in January in Lithuania. A second postponement came when Ortiz, 25, dealt with a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, pushing the fight from its April 29 date."

Ortiz told ESPN in May that he recovered from rhabdomyolysis after first being diagnosed with long COVID. Coppinger also reported that Ortiz was having trouble making weight for this fight.

The event will still go on with Floyd Schofield now stepping into the main event against Haskell Rhodes in a 10-round lightweight fight at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Schofield, 20, is 14-0 as a professional. Rhodes sports a 28-4-1 record.