Soon, the sacrifice for Isaac Cruz will be over.
The 4am alarms and the lack of quality time with his family will be at a temporary end and he will be consumed by trying to defeat a man standing opposite him.
It is something he has managed to do 26 times, while on the way losing three times and drawing once.
On January 28, Cruz left Mexico City for Las Vegas with a renewed sense of ambition and enthusiasm.
This is not Cruz’s first rodeo.
It is his third big fight in Las Vegas, where he meets Angel Fierro over 10 rounds at the T-Mobile Arena.
“We’re coming in very motivated,” said Cruz. “Motivation has always been in us. It’s what’s kept us afloat. It’s been one of our strong points. And this time we are focused, very motivated and we know what this fight against Angel Fierro entails and we are working on a specific plan with the team.”
Lessons have been learned, Cruz says. Defeated in a minor upset by Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela last August at the BMO Stadium, he has welcomed former lightweight champion Cesar Bazan to his team to help with strategy.
Like Valenzuela, Fierro has a long reach and it was that that Cruz struggled to cope with last year in Los Angeles.
“We already have the strategic plan in place, working with Cesar Bazan and the rest of the team,” said Cruz.
“I think that is no longer going to be a problem, styles make fights, and it also depends on the other fighter and what they offer to the audience. We know that the style of every fighter is very different, and we have to adapt to that as well. Every fight is different just like every victory. Every defeat is a new learning experience and we have to work on those mistakes from each defeat or victory to get stronger.”
Cruz, managed by Sean Gibbons, has had time to go back over the Valenzuela fight, and he knows others would have examined it in detail and written him off as a consequence. He had won the title against Roly Romero in impressive fashion, in March, but lost it in his first defense.
“On social media and today’s platforms, it’s much easier to see and perceive mistakes,” he said of the fallout. “Nowadays there are many media outlets where you can have everything, including videos. We can keep replaying the wins or the losses and analyse round by round or minute by minute, and identify the mistakes so we don’t repeat that.”
What he hopes victory over 23-2-2 (18 KOs) Fierro will do is take him back up the card and back into fights against the biggest names. He remains keen to face anyone and everyone, but will follow the money.
“I’m open to fighting them if the purse is right,” he said. “Teo[fimo Lopez] or Valenzuela – whatever pays me the best. I’m not closing the door on fighting any of those names but only if the purse is the best. If it’s against Rayo, then we’ll go with Rayo. If it’s against Subriel Matias, it’s Subriel. If it’s against Teofimo, it’s against Teofimo. There’s no problem. Where the money shines is where you need to go, because tomorrow I am not going to feed my kids with punches – and you have to go to what you are fighting for.”
Cruz does openly say, however, that he wants to fight and fight hard. He took shots at Valenzuela for boxing like a track athlete and instead wants to give the fans a war that suits his sawn-off, rugged style.
“People still find that desire and need to watch two Mexicans face each other. They don’t want to see a Mexican in the ring chasing a marathon runner,” he said. “A renewed Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz is coming. I think that that setback, it has changed a lot of things in me for the better.”
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