By Keith Idec

CARSON, California – Javier Fortuna defeated Sharefe Bogere on Saturday night, but he didn’t distinguish himself as someone deserving of the shot at Gervonta Davis he said he wants.

Fortuna beat Bogere by unanimous decision in what mostly amount to a dull 10-round lightweight bout. The former featherweight and super featherweight champion won by the same score, 96-93, on the cards of judges Max DeLuca, Fernando Villareal and Zachary Young.

In an anomaly, all three judges scored each of the 10 rounds exactly the same.

Fortuna (34-2-1, 23 KOs, 2 NC) also scored a questionable knockdown of Bogere (32-1, 20 KOs) during the sixth round of a fight Showtime televised as part of the the Gervonta Davis-Hugo Ruiz undercard from Dignity Health Sports Park.

A clash of heads caused a large gash over Bogere’s right eye early in the eighth round. A ringside physician looked at the nasty laceration, but he allowed the action to continue. Fortuna caught Bogere with a short left hand on the inside later in the eighth round, but he couldn’t hurt him.

After five largely boring rounds, Bogere and Fortuna came out swinging to start the sixth round. Both boxers landed hard shots during that 30-second exchange.

Toward the end of the sixth round, Bogere and Fortuna landed left hands at just about the same time. Fortuna followed it up with a right behind Bogere’s head and appeared to shove Bogere.

Referee Edward Collantes still counted it as a knockdown because Bogere’s right knee touched the canvas. Bogere protested, but he still lost a point.

Fans began booing toward the end of the second round because neither fighter had thrown many punches to that point in the fight. Fortuna countered Bogere with a short right hook that caught Bogere on the chin late in the second round.

The jeers continued in the third and fourth rounds, which also lacked action from both boxers.

Bogere began pressuring Fortuna more during the fifth round and landed a few straight right hands.

The Dominican Republic’s Fortuna fought for the first time Saturday night for the first time since he suffered head and neck injuries during his fight against Adrian Granados on June 16 in Frisco, Texas.

In the fourth round of that bout, Granados unintentionally shoved Fortuna, who fell out of the ring, onto his head. Emergency personnel removed Fortuna from Ford Center at The Star on a stretcher and their scheduled 10-rounder was ruled a no-contest.

The Ugandan-born Bogere lost for the first time since Richard Abril beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-round, 135-pound title fight in March 2013. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.