Within the co-main of the Riyadh Season card headlined by Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov, the defending WBA super-lightweight world champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) misplaced by the use of a 12-round split-decision to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) on Saturday, August third at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Isaac Cruz was recent off his dominant stoppage victory over Rolando “Rolly” Romero within the bout. His opponent, Jose Valenzuela, additionally got here into the August third matchup with momentum after knocking Chris Colbert out chilly within the sixth spherical.
Within the opening spherical of the Cruz-Valenzuela matchup, the defending champion Cruz got here out along with his trademark fashion of relentless aggression. Cruz had success early, however Valenzuela shortly tailored to his opponent’s strain fashion.
Boxer-puncher Jose Valenzuela displayed endurance, timing, footwork, stamina, and ring IQ as he settled in and dictated the tempo of the battle. He did a masterful job touchdown his countershots, because the uppercut was cash all evening.
After the 12-round contest, one decide scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Cruz, however the different two judges overruled that scorecard, scoring the competition 116-112 in favor of Jose Valenzuela.
Isaac Cruz would relinquish his WBA belt to the first-time world title challenger Jose Valenzuela in his first title protection. Attributable to this stunning upset, is a Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz rematch formally off the desk?
In December 2021, Gervonta Davis defended his WBA (Common) light-weight title towards Isaac Cruz. Cruz’s strain appeared to have an effect on Davis within the first couple of rounds, however by spherical 3, Davis was beginning to get the timing down, touchdown important countershots.
Sadly for Davis, he suffered a hand damage in spherical 6. Despite the fact that Gervonta Davis may go on and pull out an in depth unanimous choice victory with just one hand, for some purpose, a specific group of battle followers had been asking for a Davis vs. Cruz rematch.
Through the post-fight interview, Jim Grey requested Davis, “Does this deserve a rematch?” Davis responded by saying, “hell no!” Some battle followers misunderstood Tank’s response as they thought Davis stated hell no resulting from how aggressive Cruz was of their first battle.
Realistically talking, Davis responded by saying hell no as a result of if Cruz couldn’t win the battle when Davis was compelled to function with one hand for the final six rounds, how on the planet would Cruz win the second battle when Davis would be capable to use each palms for the total 12-rounds?
Because the years have passed by, Isaac Cruz has persistently lobbied for a rematch towards Gervonta Davis. At no level did Davis affirm a rematch towards Isaac Cruz, nevertheless it appeared like one thing Davis was keen to contemplate.
When he’s combating contained in the ring, Gervonta Davis operates like a machine. He downloads data, breaks his opponent down, and ultimately will get the spectacular stoppage.
Davis needed to accept an in depth unanimous choice victory with one hand, however with two palms over a 12-round interval, Davis would most likely both cease or dominate Pitbull Cruz.
Many battle followers are in awe of Tank’s knockout energy, however some fail to comprehend that Davis has great boxing abilities and a excessive ring IQ along with the punching energy.
Pitbull Cruz’s potential to make Tank Davis battle off the again foot gave the phantasm that Pitbull is on Tank’s stage, however realistically talking, he’s not.
On the evening of August third, Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela executed his coach Robert Garcia’s plan completely. Because of this, he pulled off the beautiful upset over Pitbull Cruz, and now he’s the brand new WBA super-lightweight champion.
With the win, Jose Valenzuela earned his first world title and positioned himself ready to pursue extra profitable alternatives. Valenzuela helped himself and not directly helped battle followers as a result of the way in which he beat Pitbull Cruz confirmed boxing followers {that a} Davis-Cruz rematch is a hype job that may finally flip right into a one-sided affair.
