ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Bernard Torres came off the canvas Friday night to make his fight with Frency Fortunato very competitive.
However, it was not enough to allow the Filipino southpaw to remain undefeated. Fortunato of the Dominican Republic defeated Torres by split decision in their 10-round featherweight bout at Bally’s Event Center.
Judges Jacklyn Atkins (97-92) and Mark Consentino (95-94) favored Fortunato, who lost 95-94 on judge Paul Wallace’s scorecard. Fortunato’s knockdown in the fourth round made the difference on Wallace’s scorecard for a fight that Showtime aired as the co-feature of a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader.
Wallace would have scored it tied, 95-95, and the fight would have resulted in a split draw if not for the knockdown.
Fortunato improved to 14-1 (10 KOs). Torres, who resides in Norway, fell to 16-1 (7 KOs).
Torres seemed in control entering the 10th and final round, when he landed several flush lefts. But Fortunato did enough earlier in the fight to withstand his late recovery and won a fourth fight in a row.
Torres turned Fortunato’s head around with a right hook early in the ninth round. That shot got Fortunato moving as he tried to stay away from the southpaw he was stalking.
Torres answered Fortunato with a left hand that dropped him on the ropes at the end of the eighth round. Another hard left from Torres landed in an exchange just before the bell rang to end the eighth round.
Fortunato landed a right hand to the body early in the seventh round, but Torres responded with a straight left upstairs that set Fortunato back. A right hook from Torres backed up Fortunato later in the seventh round.
Torres caught Fortunato with another right hook that landed him on the ropes late in the seventh round.
Fortunato’s right uppercut caught Torres advancing, head down, early in the sixth round. Torres’ right hook to the body caught Fortunato’s eye in the middle of the sixth round.
Fortunato hit Torres with two flush right hands that backed him up in the first minute of the fifth round. Torres landed a straight left that kept Fortunato from moving forward late in the fifth round.
Torres’ straight left landed early in the fourth round, but Fortunato hit Torres with a right counter several seconds later. Torres’ right hook landed in a subsequent sequence, but another counter right from Fortunato sent Torres to the seat of his trunks with just under 50 seconds left in the fourth round.
However, Torres quickly responded to referee Mary Glover’s count and finished the fourth round on solid legs.
A right hook from Torres got Fortunato back on his feet early in the third round. Fortunato hit Torres with a right hand to the body late in the third round.
After an uneventful first round, Torres hit Fortunato with a right hook early in the second round. Fortunato answered Torres with a left hook that knocked him off balance later in the second round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
