In the 12-round main event courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays on Fox Sports 1, slick southpaw Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (29-0-1, 21 KO’s) of the Dominican Republic gave Puerto Rican Carlos “Twin Dream” Velasquez (19-2, 12 KO’s) a bad dream in his first defence of his WBA World super featherweight title with a convincing 10th round stoppage.
The speed of Fortuna was clear from the get-go as he connected with quick right hands and snuck in a straight left hand through the tight guard of Velasquez.
In the second, both fighters took it up a notch, but Fortuna was playing Velasquez right into his hands.
Fortuna made him think, and Velasquez paid the price when he was dropped with a short right cross when he had just dropped his left hand moments before, an incredible display of skill from Fortuna.
By the third round, Velasquez’s mouth was bloodied considerably, although it was unclear whether it was due to a punch or head-butt.
Regardless, Fortuna’s hand speed was too much for the game Velasquez, who couldn’t find the range with a majority of his punches, and swung wildly at an elusive Fortuna who constantly tied up Velasquez on the inside.
It made the fight irksome at moments for referee Russell Mora, who constantly had to break the fighters up from clinches, and issued numerous warnings.
Velasquez didn’t have much of an answer and was left agitated trying to mount some offense, but he did connect with a short left hook that kept Fortuna away.
It was just a well-executed fight from start-to-finish for the 26-year-old champion.
In the 10th round, Velasquez had nothing left and Fortuna did him a favor by whacking him on the ropes to force Mora to step in.
Fortuna impressed on Tuesday but has a tendency to leave himself open for a straight right hand. It’ll be interesting to see what his next move is in a very stagnant super featherweight division.
Don’t be surprised to see Fortuna move up in the future and challenge some of the heavier hitters above him.
