Leading lightweight contender Javier Fortuna was too fast and furious for Antonio Lozada, shrugging the Mexican aside in six rounds at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday night.
The win keeps Fortuna’s pursuit of WBC 135lbs title-holder Devin Haney alive, having seen their fight fall through last December after the champion required shoulder surgery.
Subsequent bouts pitting Fortuna against Luke Campbell and Jorge Linares have also failed to happen in the WBC’s highly congested and ever complicated lightweight title picture.
Photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions.
Fortuna, originally from the Dominican Republic but now fighting out of Braintree, Massachusetts, began in aggressive fashion, eventually dropping Lozada with a left hand near the end of the opening round.
Lozada, who upset Puerto Rican hope Felix Verdejo in March 2018, had no answer to the former WBA 130lbs champion’s speed and devilry. Fortuna switched tack to pick Lozada (40-5-1, 34 KOs) apart with smart counters before closing the show in the sixth.
A forceful Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) unloaded with both fists, prompting referee Gerard White’s intervention with 26 seconds remaining in the round.
Photo: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions.
Main image and all photos: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions.
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