Ryan Garcia to defend interim lightweight title vs. Javier Fortuna on July 9 on DAZN

Two weeks after agreeing to terms, the Ryan Garcia-Javier Fortuna mandatory fight was made official on Tuesday.

Garcia, one of boxing’s emerging superstars, will defend the WBC interim lightweight title against Fortuna on July 9 at a site to be determined, Golden Boy Promotions announced on Tuesday. The card will stream worldwide on DAZN.

“Little by little, Ryan Garcia is silencing all of the skeptics,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said in announcing the bout. “And the only way to keep doing that is by continually facing tougher challenges. Javier Fortuna is an experienced southpaw who can be very slippery when he wants to avoid punches. It’s a dangerous fight for Ryan, but I expect him to show newer elements in his arsenal before ending matters by knockout.”

The fight against Fortuna will mark the second bona fide contender in a row that Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs), 22, of Victorville, California, will face. On Jan. 2, “KingRy” survived a hard knockdown in the second round but otherwise controlled and then knocked out England’s Luke Campbell, a former two-time world title challenger and Olympic gold medalist, in the seventh round to win the WBC’s vacant interim lightweight title belt at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

“Fortuna is eager and will be ready, but so will I,” said Garcia, who shares trainer Eddy Reynoso with pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez. “No one can beat me in the lightweight division, period. I'm going to show the world who I am.” 

Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs), 31, of the Dominican Republic, is a former secondary junior lightweight world titlist and a winner of three fights in a row. Most recently he scored a sixth-round knockout of Antonio Lozada on Nov. 21 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“Ryan Garcia should take this fight very seriously and train properly because he will be facing, by far, the best fighter of his career,” Fortuna said. “Hopefully, on fight night, there will be no excuses for his loss. I expect this fight to be a war while it lasts, but I have too much of everything for Ryan Garcia. His last fight showed how easy he is to hit. And his power won’t mean anything to me. But mine will put him to sleep.”

The WBC has said the Garcia-Fortuna winner will be named the official mandatory challenger for world titleholder Devin Haney (25-0, 15 KOs), 22, of Las Vegas, who first is scheduled to make his third title defense against former three-division world titlist Jorge Linares (47-5, 29 KOs), 35, of Venezuela, on May 29 (DAZN) at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

DAZN is hoping to eventually put on a fight between Haney and Garcia, which is one of the most attractive fights that can be made in a talent-laden division that also includes unified world champion Teofimo Lopez Jr. and secondary titlist Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Sampson Lewkowicz, who promotes Fortuna, does not think there will be a Haney-Garcia fight.

“I’ve had a good relationship with Golden Boy Promotions for 20 years and that made these negotiations very easy,” Lewkowicz said. “I commend Oscar De La Hoya and (Golden Boy president) Eric Gomez for their professionalism and for letting one of their big names take such a huge risk against Javier Fortuna. Here is my prediction: Fortuna will win the fight against Garcia, and then he will become the full WBC world champion because Devin Haney’s team will vacate and run to 140 pounds to avoid fighting him.”