By
Joseph Herron: In one of the more highly anticipated preliminary bouts on the Pacaquaio/Marquez IV fight card, knock-out artist Javier Fortuna (21-0, 15 KOs) defeated Patrick Hyland (27-1, 12 KOs) with a surprisingly competitive twelve round unanimous decision. The judges at ringside scored the contest 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113.
The scheduled twelve round fight was for the interim WBA Featherweight Championship, and both men were looking for a sensational showing to attract bigger opportunities against the elite level fighters of the 126 pound weight class.
In the first two stanzas of the 126 pound fight, both men showed their opponent much respect and seemed surprisingly tentative to begin the match. But in the third round, Javier Fortuna began to realize that Patrick Hyland wasn’t planning to let his hands go early and began to open up with sharp straight left hands and right hooks around the tight guard of the cautious Irish fighter.
Although the hard punching Dominican fighter overwhelmingly landed more power shots than his opponent in rounds four and five, nothing seemed to detour Patrick Hyland. Fortuna seemed content with landing the occasional combination, then circling the Irish fighter with lateral movement on both sides of the ring.
continue
