Fortuna Vows: This Will Be The End of Abner Cotto!

By Edward Chaykovsky

At the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on Saturday night, the opening bout of the Showtime telecast will showcase a Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico rivalry.  Undefeated former interim-WBA featherweight world champion Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (25-0-1, 18 KOs) will take on Puerto Rico's Abner “Pin” Cotto (18-2, 8 KOs) in a ten round super featherweight bout. 

Fortuna is not only looking to make a statement in the match, he wants to end the pro run of Cotto, who is related to WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Fortuna has punching power and promises to put his talents on display in the match.

“I’m not really worried about him.  I prepared very well and I hope he trained well, too.  I don’t want any excuses when he lands on the floor this Saturday. He’s a good fighter and he has a good trainer, but he hasn’t faced anyone like me," Fortuna said.

“He may have faced Dominicans before, but that was in the amateurs.  It will be a lot different now that he’s a professional, and it will be a lot different when he gets in the ring with me. I have faced better fighters in my career than he has, no question. I’m not looking for the knockout, but if I connect a few punches and I see he’s hurt, I’ll just go for it.  I’m going to work him.  This is going to be the end of Abner Cotto.

“I studied Abner Cotto very well. Day after day and night after night, I studied him throughout training camp with my trainer, Hector Bermudez. I studied his strengths and his weaknesses.  I’ve learned his ways, I learned everything about him and I’m ready to defeat him. At 130 or 135 pounds, wherever I see the opportunity to get a world championship, I’m going to seize it.”