Ortiz illness forces another postponement of Stanionis fight
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For the second time this year, the fight between WBA “regular” welterweight titlist Eimantas Stanionis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. was postponed on Wednesday.
Ortiz was forced to withdraw due to a recurrence of rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins and electrolytes into the blood. It can damage the heart and kidneys and in the most severe cases cause death.
Stanionis-Ortiz, a much-anticipated match between exciting, unbeaten fighters, was scheduled to headline a Golden Boy card on DAZN on April 29 at the College Park Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington in Arlington, Texas, which is the home region for Ortiz, who is from nearby Grand Prairie.
In recent days he had a flare up of rhabdomyolysis that prevented him from training properly. He is not to train for at least six weeks, per doctor’s orders, a source with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite.
Golden Boy hopes to reschedule the fight for July and hopes to also save the April 29 card with a new main event.
“Vergil works tirelessly to prepare for his fights and this is, of course, a huge disappointment for Golden Boy, him and his family,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said. “Despite this setback, I truly believe Vergil remains focused and will accomplish his goal of becoming a world champion this year and going on to become the top welterweight in the division.”
Ortiz was first diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis last March, which landed him in a Los Angeles hospital and caused a fight with Michael McKinson to be canceled a few days beforehand with McKinson instead beating late-substitute Alex Martin.
Ortiz recovered and returned to knock out McKinson in the rescheduled bout this past August, setting up his mandatory shot at Stanionis’ belt.
Ortiz and Stanionis were initially scheduled to fight on March 18, but the fight was postponed in January because Stanionis had to undergo an emergency appendectomy, which he has fully recovered from.
Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs), 28, of Lithuania, and Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs), 25, were both limited to just one fight apiece in 2022. Stanionis won the “regular” 147-pound belt by action-packed split decision over Radzhab Butaev in April. Ortiz just had the ninth-round KO of McKinson.
The Stanionis-Ortiz winner will be mandated to next face WBA “super” titleholder Errol Spence Jr., a three-belt titlist, although whether Spence remains in the division remains to be seen.
Ortiz got the hometown advantage because Golden Boy, his promoter, won the promotional rights to the fight with Stanionis at a purse bid in mid-December for $2.3 million to beat an offer of $2,100,100 made by TGB Promotions.
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Ortiz photo: Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy
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There are many reasons for someone to have problems with rhabdomyolysis. These include metabolic disorders, thrombosis, infections etc., and even very strenuous exercise, especially when dehydrated - however I'd expect Ortiz's team to have addressed this after his first bout of rhabdomyolysis.
Other causes include reactions to certain drugs including medications and toxins.
This has happened to Ortiz twice now during a training camp and so it seems unlikely to be something like a metabolic disorder, thrombosis etc., which would affect him at all the times.
In a training camp a fighter trains very hard while trying to lose weight (he's in a calorie deficit).
The two classes of drugs that "naughty fighters" often use to help them to do this are amphetamines and diuretics.
Amphetamines are stimulants that fight fatigue allowing you to train harder than you could naturally and they increase fatty acid use in the body helping you to lose weight.
Diuretics increase the amount of water lost from the body, helping you to lose weight (they're also masking agents for other PEDs).
However BOTH amphetamines and diuretics can give rise to rhabdomyolysis and while I obviously can't make a definitive accusation about Ortiz, the possibility of him reacting to a certain amphetamine, &/or a certain diuretic, in preparation for the fight can't be totally discounted. Certainly not with the pathetic drug testing protocols that exist in pro boxing.
However, as I pointed out earlier, the problem has to be something that happens in his training camp.
This is Strange Now Vergill pulls out🤔