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.
Fortuna and Sosa both fought this past Saturday. Fortuna outpointed Omar Douglas in Philadelphia while Sosa, who hails from nearby Camden, New Jersey, traveled to Monte Carlo to defeat Stephen Smith.
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
