by David P. Greisman, photo by Ryan Hafey

Javier Fortuna had previously held the secondary WBA “regular” title — until this past June, when he traveled to Beijing and lost to Jason Sosa by 11th-round technical knockout.

After the Douglas victory, Fortuna wanted a second shot at Sosa. Fortuna was up on the cards at the time Sosa took him out.

“I want Jason Sosa next,” Fortuna said after the Douglas win. “That is a very big fight and beating him this time would push my career up fast.”

Fortuna visited the canvas against Douglas, getting dropped in the opening round with a good counter left hand.

“He got me cold in the first round,” Fortuna said. “I didn't feel the punch from the knockdown very long. It was easy to recover. … I wasn't surprised that he came out sharp. I worked very hard to come back and win almost every round.”

Fortuna used in-and-out movement and flurries, and also a wealth of holding, to keep Douglas from hurting him again. And then in the 10th round a battle broke out, bringing the booing fans in the arena to their feet. 

"Every time that I was aggressive I tried to follow it up with more punches,” Fortuna said. “I knew in the final round that I had to finish it well to make sure I won the fight with no questions.”

All three scorecards were even after seven rounds — 66-66 — but Fortuna swept rounds 8, 9 and 10 in the eyes of two judges and got rounds 9 and 10 from the third. The final scores were 96-93 (twice), or seven rounds to three, and 95-94, or six rounds to four. He is now 31-1-1 with 22 KOs.

"The decision is done so there's nothing else to say,” Fortuna said. “I felt like I won almost every round after the first one.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com