In 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) lost by way of a 12-round split-decision to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs) on Saturday, August 3rd at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Isaac Cruz was fresh off his dominant stoppage victory over Rolando “Rolly” Romero in the bout. His opponent, Jose Valenzuela, also came into the August 3rd matchup with momentum after knocking Chris Colbert out cold in the sixth round.
In the opening round of the Cruz-Valenzuela matchup, the defending champion Cruz came out with his trademark style of relentless aggression. Cruz had success early, but Valenzuela quickly adapted to his opponent’s pressure style.
Boxer-puncher Jose Valenzuela displayed patience, timing, footwork, stamina, and ring IQ as he settled in and dictated the pace of the fight. He did a masterful job landing his countershots, as the uppercut was money all night.
After the 12-round contest, one judge scored the bout 115-113 in favor of Cruz, but the other two judges overruled that scorecard, scoring the contest 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 defense. Due to this shocking upset, is a Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz rematch officially off the table?
In December 2021, Gervonta Davis defended his WBA (Regular) lightweight title against Isaac Cruz. Cruz’s pressure seemed to affect Davis in the first couple of rounds, but by round 3, Davis was starting to get the timing down, landing significant countershots.
Unfortunately for Davis, he suffered a hand injury in round 6. Even though Gervonta Davis could go on and pull out a close unanimous decision victory with only one hand, for some reason, a particular group of fight fans were asking for a Davis vs. Cruz rematch.
During the post-fight interview, Jim Gray asked Davis, “Does this deserve a rematch?” Davis responded by saying, “hell no!” Some fight fans misunderstood Tank’s response as they thought Davis said hell no due to how competitive Cruz was in their first fight.
Realistically speaking, Davis responded by saying hell no because if Cruz couldn’t win the fight when Davis was forced to operate with one hand for the last six rounds, how in the world would Cruz win the second fight when Davis would be able to use both hands for the full 12-rounds?
As the years have gone by, Isaac Cruz has consistently lobbied for a rematch against Gervonta Davis. At no point did Davis confirm a rematch against Isaac Cruz, but it seemed like something Davis was willing to consider.
When he’s fighting inside the ring, Gervonta Davis operates like a machine. He downloads information, breaks his opponent down, and eventually gets the spectacular stoppage.
Davis had to settle for a close unanimous decision victory with one hand, but with two hands over a 12-round period, Davis would probably either stop or dominate Pitbull Cruz.
Many fight fans are in awe of Tank’s knockout power, but some fail to realize that Davis has tremendous boxing skills and a high ring IQ in addition to the punching power.
Pitbull Cruz’s ability to make Tank Davis fight off the back foot gave the illusion that Pitbull is on Tank’s level, but realistically speaking, he’s not.
On the night of August 3rd, Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela executed his trainer Robert Garcia’s plan perfectly. As a result, he pulled off the stunning upset over Pitbull Cruz, and now he’s the new WBA super-lightweight champion.
With the win, Jose Valenzuela earned his first world title and placed himself in a position to pursue more lucrative opportunities. Valenzuela helped himself and indirectly helped fight fans because the way he beat Pitbull Cruz showed boxing fans that a Davis-Cruz rematch is a hype job that would ultimately turn into a one-sided affair.
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