San Diego, California – Saturday night at the Pechanga Arena, Isaac “Pitbull”Cruz (29-3-2, 19 KOs) successfully defended his WBC interim super lightweight title against Nestor Bravo (24-2, 17 KOs) in an ugly fight where referee Thomas Taylor had to intervene several times to put Bravo in line to stop him from roughing up Pitbull.
Taylor gave Bravo several warnings along with a point deduction in rounds 2 and 4 to stop him from holding, shoving, and even body-slamming Isaac to the ground. Nestor also landed a few low blows that appeared intentional. He appeared unable to handle Cruz’s pressure, looking overwhelmed and unable to stop the onslaught. When he finally appeared to have settled down in round six, Pitbull landed a clean left hook that sent Bravo to the canvas for the full 10-count.
After the fight, Nestor said what made Cruz such a difficult opponent was his awkwardness and his small size. He said Pitbull was not necessarily strong but hurt him with punches he didn’t see coming due to his awkward style. Before the fight, Ryan Garcia made his prediction via X by posting that he didn’t think Pitbull would defeat Bravo.
Then, once Pitbull won, he made another post: “Bravo Pitbull proved me wrong tonight. Let’s do this in December; the offer is on the table. I can tame a lion; I’m not to concerned about taming a pitbull.”
This began a series of posts whereby Ryan made it known his seriousness for wanting the fight and that if the fight is not accepted by Cruz this time around, he won’t entertain in the future.
Isaac told the media after the press conference he wants the fight and is not afraid to move up to welterweight, “Here I am for the challenge, and I am more than ready. Whether that be December, May, or September, I don’t care about the date. The desire is there, and we will do it.” For those present at the Pechanga arena, you could feel the energy of the fans chanting Pitbull and barking for Cruz. He became a household name after being one of the few fighters to go the distance with Gervonta Davis.
Since then, he’s only become a bigger star. Recently, he joined the Eddie Reynoso camp, which holds some of the elite Mexican boxers in the sport today: fighters Rafael Espinoza, Jaime Munguia, and former undisputed supermiddleweight champion Canelo Alvarez. He’s learning not only about boxing inside the ring but outside of it as well, as he wishes to create a legacy with a superstar profile among the great Mexican fighters of all time.
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