Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz has capitalized on his performance against Gervonta “Tank” Davis since their December 2021 fight — and that’s a fight that many boxing fans and observers, including the spokesman for Premier Boxing Champions, would like to see again.
“I really like Pitbull. His nickname is apt,” said Tim Smith, the vice president of communications at Haymon Sports, speaking to Kurt Emhoff on the Boxing Esq. Podcast. “He’s the kind of guy that just sort of stands in there and latches on and just doesn’t want to let go. That’s his stock in trade. He’s tough to get out of there. He gave Gervonta Davis probably one of his toughest fights. I know that Gervonta Davis hurt his hand in that fight, but Pitbull was there the whole way.”
Davis won that fight in a relatively close unanimous decision, 116-112 on one scorecard and 115-113 with the two other judges.
Since then, Cruz has won four straight fights. He moved up to junior welterweight for his last one, stopping Rolando Romero to earn the WBA world title. The 26-year-old from Mexico City is now 26-2-1 (18 KOs).
“He sort of made a name for himself in that fight and really has sort of just taken off,” Smith said. “He’s done a really good job of using that as a great springboard to get his name out there and get in the mix and everything. Now he’s in the mix for some really big stuff.”
But first Cruz has to win his fight this Saturday against Jose Valenzuela on the pay-per-view undercard of Israil Madrimov vs. Terence Crawford, which is available for purchase via Amazon Prime, DAZN, ESPN+ and PPV.com.
Valenzuela is 13-2 (9 KOs). The 25-year-old had suffered back-to-back setbacks, knocked out in three rounds by Edwin De Los Santos in 2022 and then on the short end of a razor-thin decision against Chris Colbert, a former 130-pound titleholder, in a lightweight bout in 2023. But Valenzuela got a rematch with Colbert and made sure it didn’t go to the scorecards, putting Colbert away in the sixth round last December.
Davis is expected to headline a pay-per-view later this year. Negotiations with Vasiliy Lomachenko for a unification bout fell through, with Lomachenko’s team saying the fighter wanted to take time off. That leaves an opening for another opponent.
Smith, who emphasized that he was speaking about the possibility of a Davis-Cruz rematch in his personal capacity, rather than his professional capacity, is excited about seeing the two fighters share a ring again.
“I think Tank’s date is November. I guess that’s a possibility if Pitbull comes through his fight unscathed. The timing works out,” Smith said. “I don’t know what the possibilities are for Tank, because with him he’s such an attraction. … He’s going to draw, but you want to see him in a really good fight. You don’t want to see him in a showcase fight.
“I would like to see him in a rematch [with Cruz]. I would really like to see him and Pitbull go at it again, with Tank not having a hand injury or anything like that. I thought it was one of his toughest fights. Just to see how that would be with him at full strength.”
Follow David Greisman on Twitter @FightingWords2. His book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.