Ryan Garcia Makes Easy Work of Javier Fortuna and Wants Davis Next!
Under the hot lights of the Crypto.com Arena located in Los Angeles, California, lightweight boxer Ryan “King Ry” Garcia (23-0, 19 KO’s) set out to officially end a nasty chapter in his career in his first fight at super lightweight. In this duel, Garcia finally tested his might against the challenge of Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KO’s).
CHARTING HISTORY
The two were supposed to clash with one another almost exactly one year ago. Instead of going to war with the Dominican though, King Ry would go on to famously withdraw citing mental issue woes and his reasoning.
As a result, Fortuna, along with a great segment of the boxing public, labeled Garcia a coward and deemed him to not be serious about the sport. Prior to the controversy however, King Ry was regarded as one of the most promising upcoming talents in the division. In fact, directly before his failed match with Fortuna, Garcia had just stopped the talented Luke Campbell to claim the Interim WBC lightweight title. King Ry would stage his first bout after his mental health tribulations with Emmanuel Tagoe, who he beat by unanimous decision. Now, ranked #2 (WBC), #6 (WBA) and #10 (IBF) and armed with new trainer Joe Goossen, Garcia is seeking to iron out this nagging piece of unfinished business.
For his part, Fortuna, ranked #9 (WBA) and #11 (WBC), is aiming to make another serious run at a world title. El Abejon was able to capture the Interim WBA featherweight title by defeating Patrick Hyland by way of unanimous decision back on December 08, 2012. Later, on May 29, 2015, Fortuna beat Bryan Vasquez by UD to claim the vacant WBA super featherweight title. He would defend it once before being stopped by Jason Sosa. Outside of this, the Dominican was defeated by then IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr and by Joseph Diaz three years later. In fact, Fortuna is only one fight removed from his loss to Diaz. Despite this, a win over Garcia would do wonders for his stock in the sport.
EASY WORK
Having the faster hands, Garcia was able to take early control with his snappy jab and thumping left hook. Despite the number of punches thrown, nothing of real consequence landed in the first. Being the shorter man, Fortuna was forced to respect King Ry’s length and speed by largely being mandated to fight on the outside. Little had changed by the third, only now El Abejon’s lack of foot movement was glaring.
In the fourth round, Garcia sank a piercing left hook deep into Fortuna’s body which forced him to a knee. As he began rising from the eight count, El Abejon deliberately spit out his mouthpiece. What started as a decent bounce back round for Fortuna went left real quick when another left to the temple put him back on the canvas. Once again he easily beat the count. At the top of the sixth, Fortuna was rocked with another tremendous left hook to the Dominican in the head.
On one knee, a deflated looking Fortuna spit out his mouthpiece for a second time, prompting referee Jerry Cantu to call a halt to the action. During his post-fight interview, Garcia once again expressed his interest in fighting Regular WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
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By: Bakari Simpson
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