Former champion Cesar Bazan has Pitbull Cruz’s ear

LAS VEGAS – Escaping with a narrow victory was one thing. Losing a belt was something else entirely for Mexico’s Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

Something about his style – exposed in those bouts, including the lost title to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela in August – prompted a change.

The beauty of being from Mexico means Cruz and his handlers didn’t have to look far to find a former world champion who could craft a solution.

That former champion is Cesar Bazan, 50, an ex-WBC lightweight belt-holder residing in Mexico City who immediately spotted and addressed the flaws in Cruz’s game.

“I needed him to move more. Every time, Isaac was too straight, so I’ve helped him with movement and jabs,” Bazan told BoxingScene Thursday. Bazan spoke just before, Cruz 26-3-1 (18 KOs), engaged in an extended, forehead-to-forehead face-off with countryman Angel Fierro, 23-2-2 (18 KOs), whom he’ll fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena on the pay-per-view (Prime Video, PPV.COM) portion of the David Benavidez-David Morrell headlined card.

With Fierro possessing a seven-inch reach advantage on Cruz, Bazan’s task is immediate.

“He’s still going to be aggressive. He’s still going to be the ‘Pitbull,’ but he’s going to do it by employing more angles, the jabs,” Bazan said. “Same skillset, but different. I wouldn’t take away from the ‘Pitbull’ style, but I’m adding things.”

Bazan coaches from the standpoint of knowing what it’s like to have a reach advantage. He had one on Stevie Johnston when he claimed the WBC lightweight title in a 1998 split-decision.

But he’d wind up losing that belt to Johnston, also by split-decision, and five years later got stopped in the 11th round by future Hall of Famer and four-division champion Miguel Cotto, who also was reach-deficient to Bazan.

Through that personal adversity, Bazan says he knows how to direct Cruz to become the most troublesome version of himself in spite of the arm-length restrictions.

In the non-title split-decision triumph over left-handed Giovanni Cabrera in 2023, Cruz struggled to find his target, too often plodding forward.

Valenzuela merely kept Cruz at bay with his reach and sharp boxing acumen in August in Los Angeles.

“I’m not taking away from the essence of who ‘Pitbull’ is,” Bazan said. “His problem was walking forward and not throwing anything. If you just walk forward and don’t do anything, your opponent is going to see everything. He’s now going to work from behind the jab and move.”

Cruz advisor Sean Gibbons was formerly Bazan’s matchmaker a generation ago, and he believed the veteran’s demeanor and wisdom would be an effective mesh with Cruz and his trainer-father, Isaac Sr.

“It just made sense… his personality and the dad’s personality, they know each other and work well together. He’s there to help and get along with everybody,” Gibbons said of Bazan.

The development is pivotal for Cruz, who has hopes of reconnecting with Ryan Garcia, after withdrawing from a planned May welterweight bout with the popular contender, and WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis, who edged replacement opponent Cruz on the scorecards in their 2021 bout.

“We already have the strategic plan in place,” Cruz maintained in a recent interview on ProBox TV.

Gibbons said the results in the gym have been encouraging – “it’s like going from a six-shooter to an AK,” he said – but fight night is going to be the ultimate proving ground.

“We hope it all comes together,” said Gibbons, who’s paused his previous aggressive push for Garcia and Davis until he witnesses the Bazan-guided improvements. “Our entire focus is Saturday.”