Fortuna knocks out Velasquez in first WBA title defense

Javier Fortuna proved to be a man of his word.

Fortuna, the World Boxing Association regular super featherweight champion, predicted he would knock out Carlos Velasquez in his first title defense. Fortuna did, winning by technical knockout in the 10th round to improve to 29-0-1 with 21 knockouts in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card Tuesday at the Palms.

"The rhythm of the fight was important," Fortuna said. "I was in control of the fight because I could control the rhythm.

"I saw his shots coming. I would have taken advantage earlier, but I hurt my hand. If I hadn't hurt my hand, he wouldn't have lasted five rounds."

Before the fight, the Nevada Athletic Commission fined Fortuna $3,000 for a brief scuffle after Monday's weigh-in that he initiated. The fine amounted to 5 percent of his $60,000 purse.

Maybe that fired up Fortuna. He came out swinging and knocked Velasquez down with a sharp combination with 35 seconds left in the second round. He tried to finish him in the third with a barrage to the body and the head but was unable to do so.

Still, Fortuna was in complete control, as Velasquez couldn't mount much of an attack. He was surviving, but wasn't doing enough offensively to get back into the fight.

Velasquez (19-2) also was dealing with a broken nose from an accidental head butt in the third round, and that probably factored into his inability to attack, lest he risk getting counterpunched by Fortuna.

In the ninth, Fortuna stepped up the pace, landing solid shots to Velasquez's head and body as he again tried to set him up to finish him. He almost did, hurting him with a big right to the side of the head just before the round ended.

Shortly into the 10th, Fortuna got what he wanted. He was all over Velasquez, and referee Russell Mora stopped the fight 35 seconds into the round.

"The head butt, I think, broke my nose early in the fight, and it affected my breathing throughout the bout," Velasquez said. "I take nothing away from Fortuna. He's a great fighter. I left everything in the ring and never quit. I wanted to give it my all, and that's what I did."

The card had some last-minute alterations after fighters dropped out because of injury or were not approved by the commission.

Super middleweight J'Leon Love, scheduled to face Ousmanu Adama, wound up fighting Marcus Upshaw after Adama withdrew with a shoulder injury.

Love defeated Upshaw by unanimous decision in their 10-round bout to improve to 21-1. Upshaw dropped to 17-15-4.

Lightweight Mickey Bey's fight was canceled by the NAC after Gilberto Sanchez Leon was 10 pounds over at Monday's weigh-in and a replacement could not be found. Leon had replaced Oscar Cortes, who was not approved to fight by executive director Bob Bennett.

Bey, a former International Boxing Federation champion who had not fought in more than a year and was coming off surgery on his right hand, was still paid his purse of $25,000 by his promoter, Mayweather Promotions.

In the co-feature, junior middleweights Oscar Molina and Domonique Dolton battled to a 10-round majority draw.

Molina (13-0-1), who dedicated the fight to his former promoter, Dan Goossen, who died a year ago Tuesday, landed several hard right hands to Dolton's head throughout the fight and also was effective working the body.

But Dolton (17-0-1) was resilient. He absorbed Molina's best shots and dished out punishment of his own with effective combinations.

"I let it get too close," Molina said. "I'll go home and watch the fight, but right now, I can't complain about the decision. The judges saw what they saw."

Cruiserweight Andrew Tabiti improved to 12-0 with a second-round technical knockout of Tomas Lodi. Tabiti dropped Lodi (16-6-2) with a short, straight right hand to the chin late in the second.

Lodi managed to beat referee Jay Nady's count and survived the round. But he was in no shape to continue, and the fight was stopped before the bell to begin the third round.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj