The opener of Errol Spence Jr’s homecoming tripleheader on Showtime came to an abrupt and unexpected end. After a strong start, Javier Fortuna fell out of the ring in the fourth round of a fight he was doing quite well in. He ended up being stretchered out of the arena.
This was a strange one. Adrian Granados (18-6-2, 12 KOs) started the first round strong, but Javier Fortuna (33-2-1, 23 KOs) quickly turned the tables with his own faster offense. From there he largely controlled the fight in my view. Granados owned a rare size advantage back down at his more natural 140 lbs and he tried to charge in to use it. It wasn’t working. On his way in he’d be peppered with strong straight lefts. Once inside, Fortuna smartly tied him up to stop any real offense from Adrian Granados. Even when they’d exchange, the Dominican was getting the better work in.
The fight lost its mind in the fourth round. First, Javier Fortuna was rather abruptly deducted a point for… something. I think the referee indicated it was for rabbit punches, but I didn’t see any and he hadn’t been warned for the infraction previously. Then, maybe less than a minute a later, Fortuna was deducted another point for holding. At least he had been warned for that one. This motivated Javier to go on the attack and he landed some brilliant left hands that seemed to bother Adrian for the first time.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. As Adrian Granados pushed him back into the ropes, Fortuna tried to lean back into them. They didn’t hold and he fell through, landing quite awkwardly on his back while also potentially hitting his head. He was in immediate pain in a rather concerning sight. Thankfully the local commission responded well. They had him in a stretcher and moving towards medical care almost immediately.
The Showtime team oddly joked a bit during the seemingly serious scene. Adrian Granados was rather classless in proclaiming to the camera that Fortuna didn’t want to continue fighting, that he was looking for an out. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth all around given how serious the injury could potentially be. What a strange fight.
