Sampson Lewkowicz, promoter of lightweight contender Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (36-2-1, 25 KOs) is submitting a formal request to the WBC for them to order negotiations to begin immediately for Fortuna to face current WBC regular lightweight champion Devin Haney (25-0, 15 KOs). In his request, Lewkowicz cites the extended series of cancelled and declined fights for his top-rated fighter:
[With the WBC's top championship around the waist of Vasiliy Lomachenko at the time], Fortunamade it to the #1 spot in the WBC ratings last November. Fortuna was supposed to face England’s Luke Campbell in April of this year for the vacant [regular] lightweight championship after then-regular Haney was sidelined by shoulder injury and demoted to “champion in recess.” However, the coronavirus pandemic prevented the fight from happening and gave Haney adequate time to recover. The WBC then reinstated Haney as champion and granted him a voluntary defense. then ordered Fortuna and Campbell meet for the WBC interim title and then face the winner of Haney’s voluntary defense immediately afterwards. That arrangement fell through though, when Campbell’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, announced he was planning to step over Fortuna to make a fight between Haney and Campbell. With Fortuna now looking for a new opponent, representatives from Golden Boy Promotions offered him a fight against Ryan Garcia, which Fortuna agreed to without hesitation, only to be later notified that Garcia didn’t want to face Fortuna.
Lewkowicz then arranged for Fortuna to face Jorge Linares (47-5, 29 KOs), a former three-division titlist in August. Unfortunately, Linares announced he had the coronavirus a couple of weeks before the fight and it was also cancelled. Since then, Haney has gone on to successfully make his voluntary defense against former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa in November and Garcia is set to face Campbell in January of next year.
Fortuna, now the WBC #2 contender after the insertion of former champ Vasyl Lomachenko into the #1 spot [Lomachenko's conqueror Teofimo Lopez is the division's true world champion], was finally able to find someone to fight and looked sensational this past weekend in stopping Antonio Lozada Torres in six rounds.
Given these circumstances, Team Fortuna believes they are justified in requesting the WBC to grant this request for an immediate Fortuna vs. Haney fight. Fortuna has been a #1 or #2 contender for over a year while lower-rated contenders have secured fights against each other. With Lomachenko recoveringfrom surgery and looking for a rematch against Lopez, the Fortuna vs. Haney fight is a worthy match-up between champion and available top contender.
“Through his entire career, Javier Fortuna has fought anyone willing to fight,” said Lewkowicz. “He looked sensational beating Lozada on Saturday and has been a top contender for an exceptionally long time. He deserves an immediate shot at Devin Haney’s championship. I am sure the WBC will agree that the time has come for his long-awaited title challenge.
