ATLANTIC CITY – Eimantas Stanionis is missing the birth of his first child to fight for the WBA and IBF welterweight titles against Jaron “Boots” Ennis.

The Lithuanian’s wife Emily is due to give birth to their daughter on Thursday, two days before he enters the biggest fight of his career at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, and against the toughest opponent of the 16 he will have fought.

Stanionis and Emily have been married for less than a year, but they have been together for 13, and as a consequence she has attended almost all of his professional contests.

Victory on Saturday against one of the world’s most admired fighters would prove transformative for the 30 year old, his wife and their daughter whose name he is keeping secret but which will be visible on the gloves he wears to the ring.

They have been living separately since he flew to Los Angeles to train at Freddie Roach’s revered Wild Card Boxing Club, and she has therefore had to negotiate perhaps the most testing period of her first pregnancy without her husband by her side. 

“She’s still holding the baby – maybe the baby will wait for me, because it has to come any day now,” Stanionis told BoxingScene. “We talk about sacrifices – that’s the one thing. 

“You leave the country – it’s like 10 hours’ [time] difference. You come to Los Angeles – I need to prepare myself. It’s tough for her and for me, but she knows that I love the sport and that it’s a big fight. She said, ‘Just go and do your thing – I’ll take care of her’. We both have fights.”

Stanionis then exhaled before he said: “It’s tough, but it’s opportunities and sacrifices – if you want to achieve something it’s never easy. For some, maybe, but not for me.

“We had a talk when we found out everything, and got a [fight] date. Before it was a different date, then another one. It’s like, ‘Nothing can be worse than this’, but we had a talk; she supported me. She said, ‘Go – if it’ll be on time it’ll be on time, if not…’. 

“I’m not nervous [about the pregnancy]. I blocked everything [out]; I’m happy that I don’t need to support her and say, ‘Everything will be fine’. She’s tough as hell, so I’m very lucky I don’t need to worry about that.

“During Covid she also missed some of the fights but she [otherwise] comes to the fights. For sure [I prefer her to be present] – she takes care of the stuff and makes me happy – social media; tickets; friends; my mum; everything. She’s still doing that, over there. Since day one, I came to America for a professional career – we were living apart but she would come to all my fights. 

“I wouldn’t be sad [to have missed the birth] because it’s life – it’s never perfect. Never the best time or worst time; I’ll be happy that she’s healthy; that’s most important. That’s it.”

Stanionis arrived in nearby Philadelphia from Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, having once, as a child, briefly made the 27-year-old Ennis’s home city his home.

“I lived here,” he said. “We moved with family; we were supposed to live here but it didn’t work out. It was strange. I was a kid – I was 12 years old. They took me to the United States and we were supposed to live there. I was there for two months, because with an ESTA we could come for three.

“That’s for sure,” the WBA champion then responded when asked if he believed the coming days could prove the best of his life. “I would love to get a victory, then on Sunday fly home, and then straight to the hospital on Monday when I land. That would be perfect. 

“Great fight. I’ll give all my heart, and that’s it. Hopefully I’ll get the victory.”