Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino’s Grand Ballroom - Frency Fortunato showed off his boxing skills, power and grit to hold off a late rally from the well-conditioned and aggressive Bernard Angelo Torres to capture a split decision in a 10-round featherweight bout.

Fortunato, who dropped the southpaw Torres in the fourth round, won by scores of 97-92, 95-94 and 94-95 to improve to 14-1 with 10 KOs while Torres suffered his first defeat and fell to 16-1 with 7 KOs.

“I definitely think that I won the fight soundly, but I respect the judges’ decision,” said Fortunato of his second fight in the U.S. “I admit that I lost a few rounds but no more than that. I was in the best shape of my life coming into this fight and I think it showed. I feel very happy about my performance and I think that I clearly won. Torres was a good, quick fighter but he lacked power.”

Torres was surprised by the margin of the 97-92 scorecard that swung the fight in Fortunato’s favor.

“It was a close fight that could have gone either way,” the 26-year-old Torres said. “But I don’t quite agree with the 97-92 scorecard. I started slowly and gave away the first four rounds. That cost me the fight. I did better in the second half of the fight but should have started better.”

Constantly measuring the shorter Torres and boxing comfortably off his back foot, Fortunato of the Dominican Republic raked Torres with uppercuts and overhand rights as Torres rushed in and paid for his aggressiveness in the first half of the fight.

Fortunato dropped Torres with a sharp counter right with 40 seconds left in the fourth, the first time Torres had ever tasted the canvas. It was a short, compact punch that landed on the top of Torres’ head and Torres rose with a sheepish grin over being tagged.

The Filipino Torres, who topped former featherweight titleholder and fellow countryman Mark Magsayo three times in the amateurs, was a different fighter after that fourth-round setback. He stunned Fortunato with a counter right late in the fifth and buzzed Fortunato again with a left and right to end the eighth round. It was an impressive turnaround as Torres surged forward and swarmed Fortunato with punches.

Fortunato tasted the canvas in the final seconds of the ninth, but referee Mary Glover ruled it a slip that seemed more the result of fatigue than a punch.

The tenth round was the fight’s best as Torres landed a left in the first minute of the frame that had Fortunato backing up against the ropes. But Fortunato showed his grit and held his ground as he dug a pair of uppercuts and later landed sweeping rights that bloodied Torres’ nose in the final 20 seconds of the bout to punctuate his close win.