There was a reason that Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and Angel Fierro were chosen to fight for a special WBC belt aimed at honoring the late Israel Vazquez.
Vazquez, who died last December from cancer, had memorable wars with Mexican rivals Rafael Marquez, Oscar Larios and Jhonny Gonzalez. Cruz and Fierro, from Mexico City and Tijuana, respectively, paid tribute to his memory in emphatic fashion on Saturday night, turning in a brilliantly violent fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that pushed both fighters to the limits.
In the end, Cruz had his hand raised, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94, raising his record to 27-3-1 (18 KOs). Fierro dropped to 23-3-2 (18 KOs) with his second loss in three fights.
Fierro says the decision that matters the most is the decision to run it back.
“I came here to give the fans a great fight and leave it all in the ring,” said Fierro afterwards. “I don’t care about the judges, I care about the fans. But I do hope that ‘Pitbull’ gives me a rematch, because I think I deserve it.”
The two combined to land 486 of 1410 punches – including 412 power connects – over 10 rounds in their junior welterweight fight. Cruz did not disagree with his opponent’s assessment of the bout’s entertainment value.
“I came here to fight and show the world the best of what I can do and I think I did that. I entertained the crowd and gave them a show. I’m so happy that I gave the fans a great fight with a lot of pressure like I always do and I’m proud to do it with my family here watching,” said Cruz.
“Fierro deserves all the respect in the world and I take my hat off to him,” said Cruz. “Thank you to all the fans who came to support me, because that’s who I fight for.”
The win allows Cruz, 26, to bounce back from his split decision loss to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela last August. Now it’s Fierro who is seeking the opportunity to bounce back. Either way, he feels he made an impression on fans who watched their fight.
“I trained for eight weeks and worked really hard to leave everything in the ring,” said Fierro. “My name will stand forever, because Angel Fierro did his thing tonight. I went into the ring with determination and I fought with my heart. We showed everything that Mexican boxing is all about tonight.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
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