Life since the pandemic has not been kind at all to Javier Fortuna.

There was a point when he was due to challenge for the WBC lightweight title, only for the global health crisis to shut down those plans. Several bouts have since fallen through, including a previously scheduled clash with Ryan Garcia whom Fortuna (37-3-1, 26KOs) faces this Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Enough delays and a successful appeal saw the WBC belt returned to Devin Haney, who is now the undisputed lightweight champion.

Fortuna somehow lost out on his mandatory title shot, instead settling for an interim title fight that was to come against Garcia last July 9. Garcia (22-0, 18KOs) withdrew to address mental health, replaced by former IBF 130-pound titist Joseph Diaz Jr. who outpointed Fortuna and went on to challenge Haney last December.

Now presented with the fight he has targeted for more than a year, the 33-year-old Dominican southpaw expects an immediate reward with a win on Saturday.

“Beating Ryan has to be enough to get that title shot,” Fortuna told BoxingScene.com. “No more games, it’s time for me to get this opportunity.”

Fortuna—a 14-year-pro from La Romana, Dominican Republic—has held secondary titles at featherweight and junior lightweight but has yet to claim the real thing. He missed weight in his one shot at a major title, a January 2018 split decision defeat to then-unbeaten IBF lightweight titlist Robert Easter Jr.  

A win over Jesus Cuellar in November 2019 put Fortuna back in the title picture, as the mandatory challenger to Haney’s WBC title. Haney initially vacated the belt due to undergoing shoulder surgery with the physical rehabilitation period leaving him unable to meet the imposed deadline. The pandemic worked in his favor, and to the detriment of Fortuna who has only fought three times in the past 32 months.

Saturday’s fight with Garcia will take place at the junior welterweight limit, though with Fortuna intending to drop back down to lightweight afterward. Garcia himself was out for 15 months before returning to the ring with a 12-round, unanimous decision win over Ghana’s Emmanuel Tagoe in April.

By that point, Fortuna rebounded from the Diaz loss with a first-round knockout victory on February 20 in D.R. Once he got the call to settle up past business with Garcia, the preparation began to prepare for the future.

“I saw Ryan’s last fight. He did what he had to do. It won’t work here,” vowed Fortuna. “He better come prepared because I’m coming to knock him out. He’s standing in my way of the lightweight championship. I’m not letting that opportunity get away from me again.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox