Former WBA welterweight champion
Eimantas Stanionis is ready to kick off his comeback campaign.
Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) will face Jabulani Makhense (16-2, 8 KOs) on Sept. 27 in a homecoming fight at Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania. The 10-round fight was announced Tuesday at a catchweight of 150 pounds.
The occasion will mark the first time Stanionis, a 2016 Lithuanian Olympian, has fought on home soil as a professional.
Stanionis is looking to get back into the win column after his
first career loss, a sixth-round stoppage against Jaron Ennis in a welterweight title unification fight in April. Ennis came in as the IBF champion and walked away with the vacant Ring title and Stanionis' WBA belt, as well.
The one-sided beating ended when Ennis knocked Stanionis down in the sixth, forcing his corner to stop the fight.
Despite the setback, Stanionis is still
ranked No. 2 by The Ring at 147 pounds, behind only WBO champion
Brian Norman Jr.The unknown Makhense is a 32-year-old from South Africa who has fought all but one of his fights in his home country over his nine-year career.
Stanionis will be fighting twice in the same calendar year for the first time since 2021. It’s a welcome development for the 30-year-old, who told
The Ring before the Ennis fight that he gets “
crazy and depressed with demons when he’s not fighting.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan