Ryan Garcia’s Matchup Prediction Against Javier Fortuna
Undefeated lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) of Victorville, California, and former two-time world champion Javier Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs) of La Romana, Dominican Republic square off in the main event at Crypto.com Arena in Downtown LA on Saturday, July 16. Many boxing observers believes that Garcia will face the most difficult challenge in his career.
For Garcia and Fortuna, this 12-rounder is a rescheduling of a lightweight bout that was supposed to happen in 2021, but was postponed when Garcia withdrew to address his mental health. With the matchup just in a few days, some fighters have given their thoughts and predictions.
RYAN GARCIA VS JAVIER FORTUNA: Fight Date, Time, How To Watch It
Mikaela Mayer
The unified super featherweight world champion, having held the WBO female title since 2020 and the IBF female title since November 2021, Mikaela Mayer, share her thought about the bout. She predicts Garcia will stop Fortuna by his X factor.
“It’s Garcia’s speed. Fortuna just can’t match it and I think that’s where Garcia’s power comes in because he’s got those fast hands and that fast whipping hook. So, I really think he’s going to be able to just catch Fortuna with that. That’s how I see it ending, one left hook.” Mayer explained Garcia’s X factor.
“I see Garcia stopping Fortuna. The speed and the power that he has will be the difference. The power comes from that speed, the force and the speed. I just think that Fortuna isn’t the smartest when it comes to attacks and he leaves himself open. Eventually, he’s going to get caught with the left hook. I think Garcia wins by knockout, I don’t have a round, but Garcia has been coming out quickly in his last few fights. He puts the pressure on, even though he’s a taller, rangier boxer. I sort of see him doing that again and I think the stoppage will probably come in the first half of the fight.” Mayer continued.
Bernard Hopkins and Devin Haney
The American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016, Bernard Hopkins shared his thoughts on why it was important for the young fighter to get the victory.
“Ryan Garcia wins because he’s hungry and he wants to fight ‘Tank’ Davis. He can’t afford to have a win (go to Fortuna), it don’t look good. He has a lot of things on the table that he must look great at.”
Sided with Bernard Hopkins and even went so far as to state, Devin Haney feels Garcia will have an easy time with Fortuna.
“I think Javier Fortuna is past his prime and I feel like Ryan should go in there and do his thing. I think he should have an easy time with him, but Javier Fortuna is a litte scrappy, he’s a veteran, but I don’t think he has as much of a chin.”
Roy Jones Jr. and Eddie Hearn
The Fighter of The Year in 1994 and 2003, and The Fighter of Decade for 1990s, Roy Jones Jr. reminded fans that they shouldn’t underestimate Fortuna. He feels that while Garcia is a little sharper, Fortuna has more experience in boxing that may help him in this fight.
Meanwhile, Promoter Eddie Hearn says he has doubts that Ryan Garcia will beat Javier Fortuna this Saturday night. Hearn believes that if this is the same Fortuna that he’s seen in the past, where Ryan will be in for a long night. In his last two fights against Emmanuel Tagoe and Luke Campbell, Ryan didn’t look so good. That might be why Hearn believes the former WBA super featherweight champion Fortuna can win.
“I haven’t seen a lot of Fortuna, but if he’s the same fighter he has been, I think it’s going to be a very tough night’s work for Ryan Garcia. I don’t think, and I’m only watching Ryan Garcia at the gym like a lot of fans are, I’m not so sure (he beats Fortuna).” said Hearn.
“I’m not so sure this fight plays out so easily as some people think it’s going to play out on Saturday, which is great news. So make sure you tune into DAZN to watch it because it’s going to be a great fight.”
“Yes, absolutely,” said Hearn when asked if he’ll be impressed if Ryan Garcia scores a big knockout against the 33-year-old Fortuna.
Other fighters such as Danny Garcia and Antonio Tarver gave their thoughts on the fight. Danny Garcia believes Ryan Garcia is fresher and hungrier and that will lead to victory, while Tarver recognized Fortuna’s history of getting into some wars. He believes Fortuna has the ability to highlight some bad spots or weak points in Garcia’s game to make it a difficult fight.
Will Garcia have a hard time facing Fortuna, or ‘KingRy’ end this match and moving his record to 23-0 with 19 knockouts?
