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Four undefeated fighters came to Austin, Texas, for tonight's edition of Friday Night Fights, and the show had barely begun when the first one lost his "0."
[ Friday Night Fights Round-By-Round Live Coverage ]
Javier Fortuna blew past Yuandale Evans in the televised opener tonight, stopping Evans in the first round after two knockdowns. From the get-go, Fortuna was landing solid shots on Evans, who just looked like he was in over his head with the Dominican prospect. Fortuna (19-0, 14 KO) cracked Evans (16-1, 12 KO) with a monster left hand a little over halfway into the round, putting him down and on bad legs when Evans somewhat surprisingly got up.
Fortuna, 22, wasted no time in looking to close the show, and the 23-year-old Evans didn't seem to have any idea of how to survive the charge, and surely his mental faculties weren't totally with him, either. As Fortuna launched his assault against a backed-up Evans, the referee looked for a good excuse to stop the bout, and got one when Evans went down again, though not so spectacularly as the first knockdown.
For Fortuna, this is an eye-opener win for those who didn't know him coming in. It's a statement victory and should get him another date on TV sooner than later. He's got an exciting style and given that he went 10 and beat Miguel Roman, there probably aren't big concerns about his chin or anything like that. Several I've spoken to or follow on Twitter or whatever are very high on him, so put him on your "Prospects to Watch" list if you don't have him there already.