The rebuild begins for Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz

The opportunity to fight for a world championship was there for the taking, and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz has walked away from it.

Cruz, 26, surrendered his WBA super-welterweight belt to Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela by split-decision scores of 115-113 and 112-116 twice on August 3 in Los Angeles, lamenting the difficulty of meeting a lanky, evasive left-hander who relied on a technical approach to gain victory.

Cruz’s manager, Sean Gibbons, took the loss hard, blaming himself for the defeat after Cruz had a difficult time last year against another tall, awkward foe in Giovanni Cabrera.

“We’re not fighting anyone who wants to run. We’re not fighting any stinky styles,” Gibbons resolved. “And then I said, ‘I’m not going to make that mistake again.’ Rayo can have his moment. We’ve got to get [Cruz] back to his core audience.

“We made two horrible mistakes with Giovanni Cabrera and ‘Rayo.’ I’m not making a third strike. I’ve realized with his size, the way he’s built – it doesn’t take a degree. It’s about styles. Put him in with certain guys, matchups the fans want to see – that’s the goal for 2025.”

And thus, Cruz, 26-3-1 (18 KOs), is moving on to the February 1 pay-per-view card (Prime Video, PPV.COM) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that’s headlined by a battle of two unbeaten light-heavyweights, David Benavidez versus David Morrell.

Cruz’s opponent is a forward-charging Tijuana native, the 22-2-2 (17 KOs) Angel Fierro, who is expected to be a willing participant in a toe-to-toe exchange.

The assignment – and rejection of returning to Valenzuela – was shaped by a war story that Gibbons recalls learning from veteran promoter Bob Arum 19 years ago.

In 2005, Tijuana’s eventual Hall of Famer Erik Morales was upset in a lightweight bout by little-known Zahir Raheem. Instead of returning to fight Raheem, Arum moved Morales to a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, and the second of their three fights was a raging pay-per-view success because of the entertainment quality of their first bout and their name recognition.

“A lot of people don’t even know the fight [Raheem or Valenzuela] took place. There’s no demand. I haven’t had one person say to me, ‘Are you going to rematch with Valenzuela?’” Gibbons said.

“The idea is to get to the fan-friendly fights – to Gervonta, to Ryan Garcia [and we’re happy to spot him the weight]. In 2025, [“Pitbull”] wants to come back and fight in fights where when you come to the arena and you know you’re going to get your money’s worth.

“When you come to the arena and it’s Jose Valenzuela and it’s the same shit [as in August], you’re going to be depressed when you leave. He’s gonna start running, ‘Pitbull’s gonna start chasing, and who’s entertained?

“[Fierro] is going to be blood and guts, Mexican style. Don’t underestimate Fierro. When he’s fighting other Mexicans, he’s toe to toe. He started training under Erik Morales. You’ll see it in his style. If Erik takes interest in him, that shows what I’m saying. Styles make fights.”

Gibbons recalls the T-Mobile Arena crowd’s boisterous response to watching Cruz enter the arena and take the WBA belt by stopping Rolly Romero in March, and the manager knows that Cruz’s 1.6 million Instagram followers are more than anyone on the Feb. 1 card.

“This is like the Mexican Arturo Gatti,” Gibbons said of Cruz. “You match him correctly and [great fights transpire]. Angel Fierro, this is Mexican fighting. You’re not going to have to find anybody. That bell rings and it’s going to be crazy action.”

That sentiment brought Gibbons to conclude world-title belts are a secondary pursuit to the primary target of building Cruz’s brand by creating wars.

“Belts are great. He loves belts. And if the opportunity comes to get a belt, we’ll take it. Fight fans don’t watch because there’s a belt on the line. It’s because they want to see the fight,” Gibbons said.

“There was no belt on line for Garcia-Davis. [Cruz] is a phenomenon. This only comes once in a life – a guy like this captivating all walks of life.”

There is one prominent champion Cruz wants most. Gibbons is chasing unbeaten WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, who edged replacement-opponent Cruz by a narrow decision in a 2021 bout in Los Angeles.

“That’s what we’re trying to attempt – that type of fight to get him back in the ring and go after Gervonta,” Gibbons said. “That’s the only fight we’re going after: Gervonta Davis. The only reason I stress that is because it’s coming from the voices of thousands of people that we’ve run into over the past few years who keep asking, ‘When are you fighting Gervonta?’”

Davis is expected to defend his belt March 1 against super-featherweight champion Lamont Roach at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

While Davis has sought unifications against champions Shakur Stevenson and Vasiliy Lomachenko, it’s possible Lomachenko is moving toward retirement and Gibbons argues Stevenson – who’s headed to a February 22 defense against No. 1 contender William Zepeda of Mexico – offers a dull fight in comparison to Cruz.

“There’s very few opponents for Gervonta that you really want to see, that bring intrigue.” he said. “Nobody wants to see Shakur and Gervonta. Shakur will own Zepeda.”

Should Davis and Stevenson unite later in 2025, Gibbons said, “We’d take Zepeda tomorrow. Shakur will totally annihilate Zepeda. Zepeda would be a sensational fight for us. Anybody who wants to come and fight ‘Pitbull,’ anybody who brings the fight, that’s who we want.”