ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – The pressure isn’t only on Jaron Ennis.

Eimantas Stanionis made his pro debut eight years ago, about eight months after Shakhram Giyasov eliminated him from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He has fought only 16 times as a professional, however, in part due to injuries, the COVID-19 pandemic and Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s sudden withdrawal from their WBA welterweight title fight in July 2023.

Ortiz’s hospitalization the night before their final press conference in San Antonio cost Stanionis what would’ve been a career-high purse of $1.75 million. He had to book his own flight home after that devastating setback and couldn’t even recoup the money he spent on an intense training camp to properly prepare for opposing Ortiz.

His wife, Emily, and Stanionis have been together since they were teenagers. She has been very supportive of him chasing his championship dreams, but his sporadic paydays have caused them financial hardships and they spend several months apart when the native Lithuanian trains for his fights at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.

Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) likely will miss the birth of his first child, a daughter, while away from home for the biggest fight of his career versus Philadelphia’s Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall. Emily’s due date was Wednesday, but Stanionis has tried to stay fully focused on the task at hand because it will shape the lives of his growing family.

A win would move Stanionis one step closer toward fully unifying the welterweight titles. They’ll fight for Ennis’ IBF, Stanionis’ WBA and the vacant Ring belts in a 12-round main event DAZN will stream worldwide (8 p.m. ET).

A loss might make Stanionis walk away from the sport, even though the 30-year-old champion remains in his physical prime.

“That’s the thing – it’s a lotta pressure on me,” Stanionis told The Ring. “I have to win. If I lose, I probably would retire. Because I don’t think nobody would be interested in me to make fights. For like three years, there was no fights. It was disappointing. So, I don’t know. We’ll see. I feel amazing, but I’m just saying this about the boxing business.”

Stanionis won the WBA world welterweight title when he edged Russia’s Radzhab Butaev (then 14-0) by split decision on the Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas undercard in April 2022 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. He was later elevated to full champion status by the WBA, yet Stanionis has boxed only once in almost three years since he beat Butaev.

Stanionis will end an 11-month layoff Saturday night. His most recent bout occurred last May 4, when he unanimously outpointed Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs) on the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia undercard at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The soft-spoken Stanionis realizes much of the window within which he can earn substantial purses has been wasted waiting for an opportunity like the one he’ll finally receive when he encounters Ennis. He promised during their final press conference Thursday to take an “all gas, no brake” approach to what, at least on paper, appears to be the most challenging assignment of Ennis’ nine-year professional career as well.

Stanionis loves fight nights, however few he has experienced. The grueling training camps and all the waiting have demoralized him at different points of his boxing journey in the United States.

“I get tired sometimes of boxing,” Stanionis said. “So, that’s why I put all of my heart into this fight. It’s do or die for me, sink or swim.”