Fast Results from LA: Javier Fortuna Brings his “A” Game; Halts Lozada

Former two-division world title-holder Javier Fortuna turned in a Lomachenko-like performance tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The lightweight from the Dominican Republic had too many different looks and too much power for lanky Antonio Lozada who was rescued by the referee in the sixth round.

Lozada, whose signature win was a 10^th-round stoppage of previously undefeated Felix Verdejo, has now lost three straight. In his previous bout 13 months ago in Tijuana, he suffered a shocking loss on points to a 9-5-2 journeyman. Tonight’s defeat reduced his record to a still-impressive 40-5-1.

Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs), put Lozada on the canvas in the opening stanza with a sweeping left hook. For a moment, it didn’t appear that Lozada would survive the round but he lasted into the sixth. A barrage of punches from Fortuna, the last of which was a straight left hand with Lozada’s back against the ropes, brought about the stoppage. The official time was 2:34.

Co-Feature

Nashville lightweight Austin Dulay got back on the winning track with a lopsided 10-round decision over Bakersfield’s Jose Luis Gallegos. Dulay was coming off a loss in his hometown to Diego Magdaleno who out-pointed him in a mild upset.

Gallegos, who fell to 19-10, is a sturdy fighter and was a willing mixer, but Dulay, a southpaw, had faster hands and was more fluid. He won all 10 rounds on two of the scorecards and nine rounds on the other while improving his ledger to 14-2.

Referee Tom Taylor stopped the fight twice after accidental head butts that impacted each fighter and gave the fighter that took the worst of it time to recover.

Also

Guadalajara’s Fernando Molina, an 18-year-old lightweight, improved to 3-0 in his U.S. debut with a 6-round unanimous decision over Jose Zaragoza (5-3-1) who was spunky but outclassed. Molina put Zaragoza on the canvas with a short right uppercut in round two, leading to three identical 60-53 scores.

Molina is advised by Hall of Fame facilitator Shelly Finkel. Zaragoza, a 32-year-old father of three from Sedalia, Missouri, also competes in MMA.

The PBC show, which was patched together on short notice, aired in the United States on Fox Sports 1.

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