Greg Leon: Congrats on a successful weekend. Let's start with welterweight Eimantas Stanionis? What did you think about his win over Samuel Figueora [11-2]? Ronnie Shields:  "I thought he did a great job. Samuel Figueroa is a really good opponent. Going in we knew how tough this kid was. We knew he had only one loss and it was a controversial one, we knew he was a good southpaw who likes to bring it. That worked into Eimantas style and it was an exciting fight on both sides. I think Eimantas did enough to win each and every round and get the victory."

 

GL: How far away from fighting top ten guys is this kid?

 

Ronnie Shields: "He's not far off at all actually. He's just a few fights away from challenging somebody in the top ten."

 

GL: Since he's going to be viewed as a high risk low reward kind of opponent,  is Eimantas the the kind of guy who will have to become a mandatory to get his world title opportunity? 

 

RS: "I don't know. That's something it's hard to say right now, but if he keeps on doing what he's doing right now, with the pressure he puts on and the stamina he has, guys are going to want to stay away from him. Our focus is on one fight at a time and making sure he's ready to compete in every fight."

 

GL: Any ideas when he or Efe Ajagba [pictured] might be back?

 

RS: "It looks like it's going to be in May. It looks like it's going to be possibly on the Deontay Wilder card or a little before then."

 

GL: So they'll both be back on the same show?

 

RS: "That's what it looks like right now, but that can change anytime."

 

GL: You had to be impressed with Efe [stopping Amir Mansour]. Can you give us some thoughts on his impressive showing over Mansour in his first-step up bout?

 

RS: "I'm so proud of this kid. He did everything I asked him to do, both in the ring and during training. When we first accepted the fight I told him this was the kind of fight where you could look really, really good or really, really bad. I told him let's work on the good things and I can change the bad things hat could happen into good ones if the good ones aren't working. He took to it right away even though he hadn't fought a southpaw yet as a pro, I told him to focus and treat it like you're fighting a right handed guy. 

 

"I told him to be himself and everything would be fine. In the sparring he did, he did very well and he was confident. He knows that Mansour was to be taken seriously because he had been in there with some of the best heavyweights out there. I told him to take his time in the first round and establish the jab to let this guy know he's got a strong jab and he did. He even scored a knockdown with the jab and I'm just so proud of him. I wasn't really sure at fist how relaxed he was going to be against a cagey veteran like Mansour.

 

"People told me after the fight I was crazy for telling Efe to back him up because that's when Amir is most dangerous, but I've got a puncher who knows how to fight at his distance. It just made sense for me to have him back Mansour up and now they see."

 

GL: When I spoke to Efe he said his time is coming. How far away is it? How many more fights before he's ready to challenge for a strap?

 

RS: "He's about a year or two away right now. I think we're going to take another step up fight. I have no idea against who right now. I'm going to take a look around and see who would be a good step up fighter that could give him some rounds. Right now at this point I feel really good about Efe fighting anybody right now."

 

GL: When you're saying step up you mean another guy on the tier of Mansour, not the next level because as you know there's levels to this.

 

RS: "Absolutely. Again, I keep telling people when they bring up Joe Joyce, but he's 33 years old and he has to be on the fast track right now. Efe is 24 and he's got all the time in the world. There's no rush and time is on our side, so I'm not in a rush to put him in with a top ten guy right now. Once we get there we're not going to go backwards. We're going to get him in there with some guys who can give him some rounds and I think there's plenty of guys like that out there."

 

GL: That remains to be seen based on the sh*t he's been doing.

 

RS: (laughs loudly) "You're right about that because I'm telling anybody who gets hit by this guy is goin to have a problem. His thing is, he wants to be the best heavyweight so he's got to stay busy and keep moving. When you have a kid who is smart and knows what he wants and puts the work into it, it's just a matter of time before he gets to the top level. He also understands that when he gets to that level there's no turning back. We're not doing this to take backwards steps. Once we get to the top spot we're looking to stay there. This isn't the fast track, this is the track to develop him into the best heavyweight in the world."

 

GL: Jermall Charlo [who holds the WBC interim middleweight title] is supposed to be returning in June. Do you have a date yet? When will camp start?

 

RS: "We don't have an exact date yet, but I'm going to be working him a couple of days a week starting next week. He's already started his conditioning two weeks ago, so this is just to get him back in the gym to be ready to go when we do get the exact date."

 

GL: Any idea who he might be facing? Will you guys look to revisit the Willie Monroe bout?

 

RS: "Monroe was brought up to me, but it's a wait and see thing. I'm just waiting on some more names, we need some more names and then we'll see what's the best route for us to take."

 

GL: With Gennady Golovkin signing with DAZN all of the other big players at middleweight are now on that side of the street. Do you think getting him in the ring with any of the other top middleweights will be as simple as it's going to be shown on whichever platform is willing to pay the most for it?

 

RS: "It's going to difficult. It's going to be a matter of the WBC ordering us to fight Golovkin and then that guy will go to a purse bid and we'll see we'll see where it goes. Right now there's so many different networks now that it's not going to be negotiated, it's going to have to go to a purse bid, so we're just waiting on that."

 

GL: Closing thoughts for the fans.

 

RS: "I hope everyone enjoyed watching Eimantas Stanionis and Efe Ajagba last Saturday night. Keep those two guys in mind and understand that this is the future of boxing."