LAS VEGAS – The last time Thomas Dulorme faced a heavily favored, undefeated welterweight, the Puerto Rican veteran gave Eimantas Stanionis a more difficult fight than many handicappers and fans anticipated.

Dulorme lost a unanimous decision to the developing Lithuanian contender, but Stanionis acknowledged that Dulorme tested him in a 12-round bout Showtime televised April 10 from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Judges Tom Carusone (117-111), Frank Lombardi (116-112) and Steve Weisfeld (115-113) all scored Stanionis the winner that night, yet Dulorme contends that he did enough to pull off an upset.

Regardless, Dulorme’s competitive performance against Stanionis earned him another shot at a highly regarded welterweight, Jaron Ennis, on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

“In that fight, a lot of people were saying that Stanionis was gonna steamroll me,” Dulorme told BoxingScene.com. “They were saying he was the welterweight version of Triple-G. I showed that I belong on that level. The type of fight that it was, I showed that I can compete with all the top guys. I thought that I actually won that fight.”

Dulorme’s commendable performance six months ago didn’t influence oddsmakers, most of whom have established Ennis as at least a 45-1 favorite to defeat Dulorme in the second of three fights Showtime will televise (10 p.m. EDT). Philadelphia’s Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs, 1 NC) is widely viewed as one of the most talented boxers in the world, an opponent Dulorme realizes will be tougher to defeat than the more predictable, stationary Stanionis.

“I think the main difference is the athleticism of Ennis,” Dulorme said. “Ennis doesn’t have to sit on his punches, whereas Stanionis stands there and throws. Ennis is so much more athletic, he can throw from different spots. I’ll have to be on my toes to be able to combat that.”

An aggressive Stanionis stalked Dulorme throughout their bout and eventually wore down Dulorme in the championship rounds.

One of Stanionis’ punches opened a cut over Dulorme’s left eye during the 10th round. Stanionis told BoxingScene.com that he felt he hurt Dulorme more than once toward the end of their 12-rounder, too.

Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) still feels he won enough rounds to defeat Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC).

“I think I won at least seven rounds to five, maybe eight rounds to four,” Dulorme said. “But as far as the fight itself, I thought the first half of the fight I did really well. I was following my instructions. I was moving and I was having a lot of success. But the errors I made were in the second half of the fight, I kind of stood my ground a little bit too much.

“And at that point, that’s when Stanionis was able to keep the pressure on me. The rounds I lost – the ninth and 10th rounds I lost clearly – were because the type of pressure Stanionis puts on you makes you kind of tired. But other than those two rounds, there’s an argument [as to who won] all the other rounds.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.