PBC on Fox Sports 1: Javier Fortuna Stops Carlos Velasquez in 10th

Early on in his bout with Carlos Velasquez, it appeared as though defending WBA junior lightweight champion Javier Fortuna was going to have a short night. But the Dominican had to alter his approach throughout before he was able to put an end to the tough Puerto Rican’s evening and having his hand raised inside the Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Fortuna (29-0-1, 21 KOs) dropped his challenger with a sizzling right to the temple in the second, but Velasquez was able to climb back to his feet and hang around for quite a while. Though Fortuna won virtually every minute of every round, Velasquez was tough enough to give his foe some issues until he had to be rescued by referee Russell Mora in the 10th.

Fortuna shattered Velasquez’ nose in the third, causing blood to pour like a faucet from that point forward. Fortuna switched from pressure fighter to slick boxer and back to aggressor in the contest, but when he finally reverted back to his destructive ways late in the eighth, Velasquez had no chance.

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Fortuna rocked him late in the eighth and ninth rounds, and with Velasquez (19-2, 12 KOs) gassing out completely, Fortuna unloaded a barrage of punches to the head and body. Velasquez stumbled into the ropes and covered up, but the battered and bloodied challenger couldn’t escape, leaving Mora no choice but to step in. Mora officially ended the fight 35 seconds into the 10th frame, allowing Fortuna to remain near the top of the junior lightweight division.

In the co-featured bout of Premier Boxing Champions’ latest PBC on Fox Sports 1’s Toe-To-Toe Tuesdays card, Domonique Dolton and Oscar Molina fought to a majority draw after 10 rounds. Dolton used a superb in-and-out approach to the battle and his handspeed was superior, but Molina (13-0-1, 10 KOs) was the one throwing and landing the harder punches.

Dolton was rocked in the third after getting nailed by a loopy overhand right, but the 2012 Mexican Olympian couldn’t put him away. From there, Dolton (17-0-1, 9 KOs) went with more movement and a precision jab, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the victory. In the end, only one judge favored Dolton with a tally of 97-93, but that score was offset by the two others who both saw it 95-95.

Unbeaten cruiserweight prospect Andrew Tabiti had little trouble with Tamas Lodi, forcing a corner stoppage between rounds two and three. After a scorching right hand dropped Lodi (16-6-2, 13 KOs) in the second, he was too badly wobbled to continue. The win allowed Tabiti to improve to 12-0 with 11 KOs.

In the chief undercard bout, J’Leon Love (21-1, 11 KOs) outpointed Marcus Upshaw (18-15-4, 9 KOs) over 10 rounds to win a unanimous decision.