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| LONDON, MAY 4 – WBA world champion Eimantas Stanionis says Conor Benn is being ‘protected’ from facing him and has laughed off claims a fight between them would not sell many tickets. Stanionis dethroned the ‘regular’ welterweight title holder Radzhab Butaev in Dallas last month to create history by becoming Lithuania’s first ever professional world champion. The 27-year-old won the WBA crown a few hours after Britain’s Benn had stopped Chris van Heerden in two rounds and following that contest, his promoter Eddie Hearn was asked about pitching his charge in with Stanionis. Hearn praised the 2016 Olympian as a “really good fighter” but said the welterweight champion had “zero profile” and they would only sell 5,000 tickets for that contest at a venue in London. Stanionis has now responded to those claims by saying: “I heard what Eddie Hearn said. “They don’t want the fight and that’s why he said that nobody knows me. I just laughed when I heard it, but he is just protecting his guy, it’s his job. THE THREE MILLION REASONS WHICH DROVE STANIONIS TO WIN BUTLER MADE FULL WORLD CHAMPION AFTER WBO VOTE “He is promoting a guy for the future, and he knows it would be a very tough fight with me. “But I was just laughing because there is a big, big community of Lithuanians in England and many people would fly over from my home country for that fight too, so we would sell a lot more than 5,000 tickets. “Conor is a good fighter, he can bang, and he has power, but he has never fought anyone who would pressurise him like I would, he’s been fighting inactive guys. But a fight between us would be a lot of fun!” Stanionis’ victory over Butaev has made him the mandatory challenger for Errol Spence, who holds the WBA’s ‘Super’ title at 147lbs. Spence also has the WBC and IBF welterweight belts and could yet agree to fight WBO king Terence Crawford – but Stanionis’ wants to be his next opponent. “My contract means I am next in line to fight Spence, so I will wait for that opportunity,” said Stanionis. “It would be cool if I could fight him for three belts because when you achieve one goal, you have to create new ones and I want the other belts. I like a challenge; I want to see where I stand and want to see how deep I can dig and how far I can go through the fire. “I don’t know if Spence will fight Crawford next. I am a sports fan too and so I would love to see that fight but I am also a young, hungry fighter who wants the biggest fights. “I am contracted to fight Spence next so maybe he gives up the belts and I will fight somebody else.” To keep up to date with the latest news on Stanionis, as well as the other fighters in Probellum’s roster, sign up to our newsletter?or follow Probellum on?Instagram,?Twitter?and?Facebook? ESTELLE MOSSELY EYES ‘MASSIVE’ KATIE TAYLOR FIGHT ARCHIE SHARP CHASING SHAKUR STEVENSON CLASH |
| About Probellum???Launched in September 2021, Probellum is a global boxing promotion and media company, and the fastest-growing brand in the sport.? Following the success of the opening two shows in December 2021, Probellum has already held back-to-back world championship nights in Dubai, as well as a packed card in Newcastle. The world title action then headed Liverpool in April where Paul Butler won the WBO interim world bantamweight title. Probellum’s elite stable of fighters includes Nonito Donaire, Regis Prograis, Paul Butler, Estelle Mossely, Sunny Edwards, Jack Catterall, Eimantas Stanionis and Dina Thorslund. But the company has also recruited the next generation of stars with Peter McGrail, Mark Dickinson and Pat and Luke McCormack and Shabaz Masoud among the young talents under the Probellum umbrella. Since launching, Probellum has signed co-promotional partnerships with some of the biggest promoters globally, including DiBella Entertainment (US), Wasserman (Germany), Universum (Germany), GYM (Canada), Maravilla Box (Spain), Team Ellis (Australia), Titov Boxing Promotions (Russia), Volcano Boxing (El Salvador), BXSTRS Promotions (Mexico), PR Best (Puerto Rico) Glozier Boxing (New Zealand), Box Office Sports (Ghana) and LNK Boxing (Latvia).??? ? |
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