Isaac Cruz, who received the ultimate praise from Mike Tyson, defeated Angel Fierro in a thrilling war.
Cruz was fighting on the huge Premier Boxing Champions bill topped by David Benavidez’s mouth-watering clash with David Morrell at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Premier Boxing ChampionsCruz delivered on his Mike Tyson moniker with an all-action display[/caption]
The savage 5ft 4ins super-lightweight was looking to get back in the winning column, having lost his WBA world title by split decision to Jose Valenzuela last August.
His power-punching and relentlessly aggressive style has seen him identified by heavyweight legend Tyson, as fighting similarly to himself in his frightening prime.
All-action was promised and the showdown delivered with 1410 punches thrown by both men, who clashed in a cocktail of concussive and savage punches.
But it was Cruz who had his hand raised, as he got the edge in the sensational spectacle on the judges scorecards who saw the fight at 96-94, 97-93 and 98-92 in his favour.
From the very first bell the pair got straight into vicious exchanges, with Cruz letting his hands go and attacking Fierro in promising early output.
He didn’t take a backwards step early on tagging his rival with some big shots and trundling slowly towards him, but Fierro tried to match him toe-to-toe.
Fierro worked off the back foot looking to counter punch and looked to use his physical size advantages, but absorbed some damaging blows from Cruz in the second.
But he came into the fight in a stunning third period unloading his own sensational work on Cruz, with his corner suggesting the aggressive star was hurt from the exchanges.
The fight continued at a barnstorming rate, with Cruz continuing to be the man on the front foot, and taking control of a large portion of the exchanges despite a blip in the third stanza.
‘Pitbull’ and Fierro showed no sign of slowing down with two rounds left, having thrown over 1000 punches in a thrilling back and forth.
But the fight ended as they traded blow after blow, and Cruz believed he had done enough to win.
And he did exactly that marginally outlanding his rival, in an early contender for ‘Fight Of The Year’, with 1410 total punches thrown.
Cruz had been heavily linked with a clash against Ryan Garcia prior to this bout being announced.
It could be a mouth-watering clash, but the Mexican turned it down for Garcia’s May return, with the superstar set to instead now face Rolando Romero.
And Cruz’s advisor Sean Gibbons insisted that he will now revisit making the clash in 2025, as well as a rematch with Davis, but didn’t want the distraction.
Gibbons explained: “It’s bad luck to him. He’s seen Jaime Munguia take a [December] fight when he had bigger fights awaiting him against guys like Edgar Berlanga and Caleb Plant, and [Munguia] got knocked out.
“You need to concentrate on what’s in front of you. So ‘Pitbull’ let us know that – unfortunately – due to the timing, he has to wait after this first fight.
“After that, he’s happy to discuss all the details, because, again, it’s a fact that he believes he would knock Ryan Garcia dead.
“All of a sudden, that other fight is in the back of their mind and they lose focus. Isaac Cruz is an intelligent fighter.
“He wants to focus on one opponent. It’s just the right decision. If he had agreed to this fight [with Garcia], what’s Angel Fierro thinking?
“‘A-ha, OK, you disrespect me, you think I’m fucking easy? I’m coming to whoop your ass, and I’ll be the one fighting Ryan Garcia.’
“Yes, he can talk about Ryan or Gervonta Davis, as he’s done. But signing for the actual fight? That’s risking losing focus.”
