From Fatherless To A Fighting Chance

As a fatherless, hyper-active eight-year-old in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania, Eimantas Stanionis was always fighting in the streets.

“[I was] always winning, winning, winning,” said Stanionis, who was raised by his mother, Aiste Dzidolikiene, and maternal grandparents after his father departed when he was two-years-old. “I’ve been fighting my whole life. My dad left us when I was a kid. My mother raised me and she’s the toughest person that I know.”

Aiste finally took her son to a local gym, where he learned mixed martial arts and, eventually, laced on a pair of boxing gloves at the age of 13 even though his head was often handed to him.

“That’s what motivated me to come back,” said Stanionis. “When you’re always winning and you lose, you want to get back at the guy who beat you. That’s what kept me coming back to boxing. I always like using my hands.”

As an amateur, Stanionis won 141 of 160 bouts, twice winning a pair of youth national titles, four senior national crowns and the 2015 European Championships.  He also qualified to represent Lithuania in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where he lost to the eventual welterweight silver medalist Shakhram Giyasov of Uzbekistan, 3-0, in the second round.

Stanionis earned his bachelor’s degree in Sports Science in 2017, the same year he turned pro by going 4-0 with three knockouts.

“When I became a professional after the Olympics, [his father] tried coming back into my life,” said Stanionis.

“I didn’t want to see him, because he left us when the times were tough. [His mother is] the one who used to drag me off the streets after I beat someone up. That’s what started me in boxing.”

Mowing Them Down

Stanionis won thrice more, two by stoppage, in 2018: Fourth- and third-round TKOs of Hector Munoz (March) and Erick Daniel Martinez (June) preceding a hard-earned eight-round unanimous decision over Levan Ghvamichava (August), who entered at 18-3-1 (13 KOs).

In 2019, Stanionis yet again won two of three bouts by stoppage, in succession, handling Samuel Figueroa (March) by eight-round unanimous decision before halting Evincii Dixon (October) and Julio Cesar Sanchez (December) by first- and third-round knockouts. 

Figueroa, a southpaw, entered at 11-1 only to succumb to a Stanionis who had suffered torn ligaments and a broken right wrist during training two weeks prior to their fight. 

“At the time, I didn’t know I broke my wrist. It was painful, but I had to fight. It was on TV and could not miss that chance. It’s funny, because my mother still doesn’t like me fighting. She stays in Lithuania when I fight,” said Stanionis.

“She is a very strong woman, and she never complained about anything. She did everything in a hard way and she had a hard life. I learned a lot of lessons from her. Nothing can break her. She’s the one who taught me to never run away from anything. I want the best fighters. I want to face the best welterweights in the world today.”