Ryan Garcia tips his hand for next fight opponent: Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz

Ryan Garcia strongly indicated in a Friday post on his X social media account that his next opponent will be recent WBA junior welterweight champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

“I’m bringing a[n] explosive fight in my … comeback. Pit bull has always been considered a tough opponent,” Garcia posted, adding a swipe at his rival and planned October opponent, former two-division champion Devin Haney by writing, “tougher matchup than Haney, [to be honest].”

A source close to Cruz told BoxingScene on Friday afternoon that there are in-progress “talks” before finalizing Garcia-Cruz.

The Garcia-Cruz bout is tentatively planned to be part of a spectacular outdoor show in New York’s Times Square in early May, which would also include a Haney fight, with former unified 140lbs champion Jose Ramirez tabbed as the top choice for an opponent by Saudi Arabia power broker Turki Alalshikh.

Earlier this week, on a list posted by his magazine, Ring, Alalshikh was said to be in advanced talks for fights this year with Garcia, Haney and Cruz, whose advisor, Sean Gibbons, visited London and The Ring’s awards gala last weekend.

Bitter rivals since their amateur days, Garcia and Haney staged a controversy-filled April 20 bout that was later ruled a no-contest by the New York State Athletic Commission because Garcia tested positive three times for the banned performance-enhancing drug ostarine after missing weight by more than three pounds and knocking down Haney three times in the bout at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

Garcia was suspended for one year by NYSAC. The unbeaten Haney has opted to take that time off, vacating his WBC 140lbs belt.

Somewhat surprisingly, both fighters will return from more than a year-long layoff to meet distinguished foes.

Cruz, 26-3-1 (18 KOs), punished Rolly Romero by eighth-round TKO on March 30 to capture the WBA 140lbs belt, only to lose it by having a problematic time in the second of three bouts against a taller left-hander, Mexico’s Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela.

Garcia, of course, is a taller left-hander.

Both Garcia and Cruz have been defeated by unbeaten WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis. As a replacement foe to Davis in December 2021, Cruz went the distance with Davis, losing narrowingly by scores of 115-113, 115-113, 116-112.

Davis knocked out Garcia in the seventh round of their April 2023 bout in Las Vegas.

In the meantime, Cruz is headed to a February 1 comeback bout from the Valenzuela loss against countryman Angel Fierro, 23-2-2 (18 KOs), in the pay-per-view (Amazon Prime Video, PPV.COM) co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The card is topped by a meeting of unbeaten light heavyweights, WBC interim titleholder David Benavidez versus WBA secondary titlist David Morrell Jnr.

Action fighter Fierro is expected to provide Cruz the type of slugfest he craves.

In a conversation with BoxingScene earlier this month, Cruz said, “This is the perfect type of fight to jump back on the big stage and re-start the hype I had before my last fight. I want that hype for me to fight Ryan Garcia … that’s still my focus. People would love to see me jump in there and slap Ryan Garcia around.”

Advisor Gibbons said then that he is hopeful Cruz adds a more fevered pitch of anticipation to a Garcia showdown.

“Ryan may run for the hills if Isaac looks so strong, but Ryan should come right back into a tough fight, especially when he looked so good knocking Devin Haney to the floor three times,” Gibbons said. “Ryan wants only big fights. So why not Isaac Cruz?”

Still, authorities need Garcia to enroll in Voluntary Anti Doping Association (VADA) testing before moving forward. Garcia has criticized the agency that found two of his first-fight samples positive, and he has expressed discomfort in relying on its findings – although Alalshikh retains VADA for drug testing for most of his top-tier fight cards.

“WBC, and everyone involved in the fight said they can’t have this fight done without VADA. I don’t know why or what’s that about, but VADA has to be involved. I am also using another drug testing as well as VADA,” Garcia posted to his X account Friday.

“I’ve always said yes to testing, never thought it [would] be forced onto me by everyone, that it had to be VADA. Pretty strange.

“If you really care about the integrity of the sport and it being clean, why would it matter who’s testing me? Wouldn’t it be [simpler] for me to get tested year round by a credible organization, instead of insisting it has to be a specific organization.

“Why isn’t anyone talking about [Haney conditioning advisor] Victor Conte and his influence in VADA? Prior Cheater. Who’s to say he isn’t pulling strings?”

VADA’s International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee director Margaret Goodman has frowned upon Garcia’s prior verbal swipes at her company, and it is believed that once Garcia enrolls in VADA, there will be conditions with penalties to halt his public criticism of the company.

Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.