LOS ANGELES – Ryan Garcia’s size advantage over Javier Fortuna was on full display Friday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.
Garcia towered over Fortuna, who stands approximately four inches shorter than him. They were closer in weight when they stepped on the California State Athletic Commission’s scale for their 12-round junior welterweight fight Saturday night at nearby Crypto.com Arena.
Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) officially weighed 140 pounds. Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs, 2 NC) came in at 139.8 pounds.
The contracted limit for their non-title bout was 140 pounds because Fortuna felt he didn’t have enough time when the Dominican southpaw started training to get all the way down to the lightweight limit of 135.
Garcia, 23, and Fortuna, 33, were first scheduled to fight for Garcia’s WBC interim lightweight title last July 9 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. Soon after their main event was officially announced, though, Garcia withdrew to address his mental health.
Joseph Diaz Jr. replaced Garcia and defeated Fortuna by unanimous decision in a 12-round fight for the then-vacant WBC interim lightweight title.
Garcia returned to the ring April 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio, where he defeated Emmanuel Tagoe by unanimous decision in a 12-round junior welterweight fight. The Victorville, California native dropped Ghana’s Tagoe (32-2, 15 KOs) in the second round and beat him by wide distances on all three scorecards (119-109, 119-109, 118-109).
The official weights for the six fights on the Garcia-Fortuna undercard are listed below.
DAZN main card (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT)
Alexis Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs), Santa Ana, California, 146.6 pounds vs. Luis Veron (19-4-2, 9 KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 146 pounds, 10 rounds for the vacant NABO welterweight title.
Lamont Roach Jr. (22-1-1, 9 KOs), Washington, D.C., 129.8 pounds vs. Angel Rodriguez (20-1, 10 KOs), Barranquilla, Colombia, 129.2 pounds, 12 rounds, WBA super featherweight elimination match.
Ricardo Sandoval (20-1, 15 KOs), Rialto, California, 111.8 pounds vs. David Jimenez (11-0, 9 KOs), Cartago, Costa Rica, 111.2 pounds, 12 rounds, WBA flyweight elimination match.
DAZN preliminary bouts (Saturday, 5 p.m. ET; 2 p.m. PT)
Oscar Collazo (4-0, 3 KOs), Villalba, Puerto Rico, 105 pounds vs. Victorio Saludar (21-5, 11 KOs), Misamis, Philippines, 104.2 pounds, 12 rounds, WBA minimumweight elimination match.
Diego De La Hoya (22-1, 10 KOs), Mexicali, Mexico, 126 pounds vs. Enrique Bernache (24-13, 12 KOs), Guadalajara, Mexico, 125.2 pounds, 10 rounds, featherweights.
Miguel Gaona (2-0, 1 KO), Los Angeles, 138.6 pounds vs. Abdiel Padilla (1-2, 1 KO), Caguas, Puerto Rico, 136 pounds, 4 rounds, junior welterweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.