It was CLEARLY the most bizarre fight of the weekend, and we got it covered for you in this sneak peek of the already classic Sunday Report Card at XN Sports, which today celebrates its first anniversary. Javier Fortuna KO 5 Abner Cotto, junior lightweights This one was as bizarre as they come. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry of the Caribbean (think more of Corleone-Tattaglia, or Bloods-Crips kind of rivalry here), so whenever there is a sporting event involving two athletes from these two nationalities, things tend to get a bit heated. And they did. Fortuna (26-0-1, 19 KO) had power, speed, and a terrific track record on his side (including an interim WBA featherweight world title, for what is worth). Cotto (18-3, 8 KO) had a solid set of skills to back him up in his defense of his illustrious family name (he is a cousin of 160 lb champion Miguel Cotto). Throw in two uber feisty corner men and an inept referee, and you got yourself a donnybrook of tragicomic proportions. Fortuna came out swinging, literally. He charged forward as if possessed by a demon, throwing punches from all angles and clearly befuddling his foe. The early KO failed to materialize, and then Cotto landed two clear rabbit punches on Fortuna, who went down in pain. The referee issued a clearly erroneous 8-count AND took a point from Cotto for the illegal punch (you know, the one that sent Fortuna down in the first place). Encouraged by the lack of proper oversight, Cotto started aiming below the belt in the following round, landing two demolishing volleys to Fortuna’s groin. After the second one, Cotto was deducted a point as his corner yelled “stand up, you coward!” to Fortuna as he was on his knees, in pain. Not to be undone, Fortuna took a wild swing at the end of the fourth that would have severed Cotto’s head if it had landed. It didn’t, but that didn’t prevent Cotto from going down in a clownish move orchestrated on the spot by his chief second. Fortuna lost a point for the imaginary punch, with the deduction taking place during the rest period (also illegal, but who’s counting at this point?) and came out determined to end the whole thing in the fifth. Fortunately for all of us who like our fights to be fought by the book, Fortuna achieved his goal with a demolishing straight left from his southpaw stance that sent Cotto face forward to the canvas. In this occasion, his chief second asked him to stand up instead, but Cotto failed to heed his advice on time, and this charming little piece of mayhem was finally stopped. A nice win for “El Abejon” Fortuna, indeed, and a punishing defeat (both morally and competitively) for Cotto, who will need better advice from his corner from now on. youtube/watch?v=tDsfhn5_dMQ
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 20:23:11 +0000
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