Lithuanian WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis and Uzbek contender Shakhram Giyasov have been ordered by the WBA to face each other. A customary negotiation period of 30 days has been dictated from September 19th to October 19th, whereafter purse bid proceeding will commence if the two parties fail to reach an agreement. Interestingly, the WBA appears to once again ignore one of its own rules that should have dictated Stanionis to be stripped of his title for not defending it in time.

Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KO’s) first obtained the WBA “regular” welterweight (147 lbs) title on April 15th, 2022, after defeating Russian opponent Radzhab Butaev (15-1, 12 KO’s) by split-decision (SD). Following his victory, Stanionis would remain absent from the ring for over two years, eventually defending his WBA belt again in May of 2024 against Venezuelan challenger Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KO’s).

Just last month, Stanionis found himself elevated to actual world champion after then-holder of the WBA “super” 147 lbs title, Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) vacated his belt in lieu of the WBA super welterweight (154 lbs) title he attained earlier in August.

While Stanionis did successfully defend his WBA title―for the first time―earlier this year against Maestre, the WBA’s decision to retain him as a champion is indicative of the sanctioning body’s proclivity in ignoring or breaking their own rules.

As the sanctioning body would reference in its own press release ordering a title bout between Stanionis and #1 WBA 147 lbs contender Shakhram Giyasov (16-0, 9 KO’s), rule C.10 should have dictated Stanionis to be stripped by January of 2023.

By the WBA allowing Stanionis to remain a champion without actually meeting obligations, the recent mandate drives questions at the sanctioning body’s ability to function properly within the sport. While Stanionis himself appears to bear little fault in his inactivity, having fallen victim to boxing politics and his former promoter’s inability―Premier Boxing Champions (PBC)―to arrange fights for him, yet the WBA’s rules should still have applied to him.

In any case, Giyasov has become the mandatory challenger to Stanionis’ WBA title, and a round of negotiations will proceed over the next 30 days. Interestingly, Stanionis revealed he was a free agent just around three months ago, which is bound to put any potential purse bid proceedings in favor of Giyasov who is currently signed to UK-based promotion Matchroom.