Eimantas Stanionis Stops Janer Gonzalez To Remain Unbeaten
Undefeated rising welterweight Eimantas Stanionis continued his ascent up the 147-pound rankings Wednesday night with a ninth-round knockout of Colombia’s Janer Gonzalez in the main event of FS1 PBC Fight Night and on FOX Deportes from Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles.
The 2016 Lithuanian Olympian Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs), now fighting out of Oxnard, California, and Gonzalez (19-4-1, 15 KOs), now fighting out of Miami, engaged in a body-punching duel for most of the entertaining fight with the stronger shots and world-class jab of Stanionis allowing him to maintain an edge throughout.
Coming forward behind a tight defense, Stanionis came out patiently in round one, allowing Gonzalez to rip home some strong shots to the body. The powerful Lithuanian landed his own left hook to the body midway through round two that immediately put a shaken Gonzalez on the defensive. Another strong left hook to the liver later in the round sent Gonzalez down for a count of nine. Stanionis landed another vicious left hook to the body in round four that bothered Gonzalez, but he wasn’t able to score the stoppage.
"It’s a matter of time." @ShowtimeShawnP on @E_Stanionis finishing Gonzalez. 10 seconds later, IT'S OVER ?! #StanionisGonzalez #PBConFS1 pic.twitter.com/DrB3HEaC19
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) December 17, 2020
Unexpectedly, Gonzalez buckled Stanionis momentarily with a right hand early in round six, but rather than let him enjoy the moment, Stanionis responded with a thudding series of left hooks to the liver that put him back in control. From the opening bell, Stanionis was clearly in control of this one pretty much like he was against Justin Deloach.
Two overhand rights and a big right uppercut put Gonzalez down for an eight-count late in round eight and a crushing right hand early in round nine dropped Gonzalez again, prompting Referee Jerry Cantu to wave off the fight at :45.
With the emphatic finish, 26-year-old Stanionis won his fourth straight fight by knockout. He threw 517 punches and landed 207 for an impressive connect percentage of 40%, according to CompuBox. In losing bravely, Gonzalez threw 456 punches and landed 100.
At the time of the knockout, Stanionis was ahead in the fight by scores of 80-70, 86-84, and 88-82.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
