Javier Fortuna has fallen short each time he’s stepped up his opposition, and the former 130-pound champion will look to flip his fortunes when he takes on Ryan Garcia at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on DAZN on July 16.

Fortuna (37-3-1, 26 KOs) lost his WBA super featherweight title in his first pro loss in 2016 to Jason Sosa. His other losses have come to Robert Easter Jr. in 2018 and Joseph Diaz Jr. in 2021. 

Fortuna’s resume is still missing a hallmark win, but he believes he’s still one of the best lightweights in the world. 

“I am preparing well. I am looking forward to a good fight. I am 100% committed to winning this fight. I am going to be 100% ready. I have the experience to beat Garcia,” Fortuna told BoxingScene.com and other reporters through an interpreter during a recent media gathering. “I will fight anyone at 135 pounds, whether they are a champion or in the top 10 – I will beat them. 

“Everyone is good at 135 pounds, but I am the best. I just need the opportunity. I have the best capacity and everyone has seen it. I’m not saying that I am the best, but the public will say I am the best [after the Garcia fight].”

Fortuna was talking about a big game from Puerto Rico during a virtual roundtable session.

When asked what he’d say to Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) if he were standing face-to-face with him, the Dominican boxer expressed an idiom in Spanish. 

“Ryan would pee himself because he’s afraid of me. He’d lay an egg because he’s a duck,” said Fortuna. “I hope he’s taking this fight seriously. He doesn’t know what’s coming to him.”

Fortuna also revealed that he was dealing with an injury heading into the Diaz fight. 

Diaz was Garcia’s replacement opponent after Garcia pulled out of an announced fight with Fortuna last year citing mental health issues.

“I had a fractured finger in my right hand but I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to fight JoJo so I went ahead with the fight,” said Fortuna. “Even though I was injured, the fight was still a great spectacle. JoJo had a plan and he executed it.”

Garcia is giving Fortuna a sliver of a chance to pull off the upset. 

"I am a great fighter. I am going to show you the difference between me and Jojo Diaz and Robert Easter Jr.,” said Garcia. “Nothing is guaranteed, but I am 99.999% confident I will take Fortuna out early.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.