The Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles is the setting this Saturday night for the next chapter in the career of Ryan Garcia as he takes on Javier Fortuna in a twelve round lightweight contest in what ‘King Ry’ will hope push him towards a long-awaited showdown against Gervonta Davis.
DAZN televise Garcia vs Fortuna card live worldwide with the card promoted by Golden Boy.
Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) has been must-see viewing through his career to date, with a string of devastating knockouts to his name.
The Los Angeles native came to real prominence in February 2020, when he destroyed Francisco Fonseca inside a round, and that led to a crack at the interim WBC title against Britain’s Olympic gold medallist, Luke Campbell.
There, the 23-year-old received his first gut check, as he was dropped by Campbell in the second, before roaring back to halt the Hull man in seven rounds.
Garcia was set to face Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs) in July last year, but withdrew to focus on his mental health, and Joseph Diaz Jr stepped up from featherweight to face the 33-year-old, and took a points win.
‘King Ry’ was then due to meet Diaz last October, but a hand injury ruled him out of action.
Garcia returned in April this year, dropping Emanuel Tagoe in round two on the way to a wide points win over twelve in his first fight under trainer Joe Goossen after leaving Eddy Reynoso.
Fortuna is a former WBA champion at super featherweight, but has failed to win a world title at 135 pounds to date. After losing to Diaz, Fortuna returned to his native Dominican Republic in February, and knocked out Rafael Hernandez inside a round.
Prediction: Garcia can be explosive, but there may still be a little rust in his work that he needs to shake off. Fortuna is tough, and has never been stopped, so the likelihood is that Garcia may score an early knockdown, before settling for a comfortable enough points win.
Rocha returns against Veron
Alexis Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs) topped a DAZN bill last time out after the extremely late withdrawal of Vergil Ortiz Jr from his assignment against Michael McKinson, and the Californian takes on Argentina’s Luis Alberto Veron (19-4-2, 9 KOs) at welterweight.
Prediction: Rocha stopped Blair Cobbs in nine rounds last time out, and he may need the scorecards for victory here, as Veron has never been halted.
Remaining Undercard
Ricardo Sandoval (20-1, 15 KOs) is in action on the card, and the Californian flyweight can inflict the first defeat in the career of David Jimenez (11-0, 9 KOs), likely via stoppage.
Lamont Roach Jr (22-1-1, 9 KOs) also sees action, and the former world title challenger should bank a points win in his WBA super featherweight title eliminator against Colombia’s Angel Rodriguez (20-1, 10 KOs).
Diego De La Hoya (22-1, 10 KOs) continues his comeback from his first professional defeat, and the Mexican should be able to halt his countryman, Enrique Bernache (24-13, 12 KOs) in their scheduled featherweight ten rounder.
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Oscar Collazo (4-0, 3 KOs) has his first fight in the USA, and he is in a first twelve round assignment against former two-time world champion at minimumweight in Victorio Saludar (21-5, 11 KOs). Collazo can take a points win.
Super middleweight Lawrence King (11-1, 9 KOs) is on eight rounder duty, and ‘Dawg’ can halt the unbeaten Mexican. Edgar Valenzuela (7-0, 6 KOs).
Miguel Gaona (2-0, 1 KO) should take a stoppage win in his four rounder with Abdiel Padilla (1-2, 1 KO).
