Ryan Garcia says Isaac Cruz negotiations have started

Lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) says his team has started negotiations with recently beaten former world title challenger Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) for a battle that will likely take place in early 2022.

Cruz, 23, is coming off a competitive 12 round unanimous decision defeat against WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on December 5th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Cruz arguably gave the unbeaten Tank (26-0, 24 KOs) the toughest test of his career in losing a questionable decision. Many boxing fans felt the fight should have been scored as a draw, not a win over Pitbull.

Nevertheless, Ryan isn’t impressed with the 5’4″ Pitbull Cruz, calling him “C-class” lightweight, who he feels is too small to be fighting at 135.

Ryan says that if Pitbull Cruz were campaigning at super featherweight [130], he’d be a “B-class” fighter, but at lightweight, he’s merely a C-class guy due to his lack of size.

When is the fight with Pitbull Cruz?

Ryan Garcia: “That’s being talked about with my team. A shout out to Lupe Valencia. He’s trying to get it done. Hopefully, I could get it done with Pitbull, and we can get it rocking.

“As I said, Cruz is a good fighter. I mean, I really mean no disrespect when I say he’s a ‘c-class fighter.’ It really wasn’t towards him. It was more towards Tank [Davis] because I’ve been calling him out for, I don’t know how long.

“To me, I honestly feel he’s [Pitbull Cruz] a B-level fighter, but a B-level fighter in a smaller weight class [super featherweight]. He’s a C-class fighter at 135. I’ll stand by that.

“He’s [Isaac Cruz] pretty small. I’m not saying that he’s not good enough to compete. I just feel that maybe he’s too small for the weight, but we’re going to see. He said he was going to beat me up.

“He said he’s going to dog me and walk me down and put that pressure on me. Well, that’s all I’ve fought my whole life, pressure fighters that come forward and try to dog me.

“So, we’re just going to have to see. Let’s go, man. I’m ready to get back in the ring. Line them up, and there goes the left. Time them coming in. It doesn’t matter.

“I might change it up and pressure him; who knows? It’s going to be an interesting fight. Let’s see how it goes.”

It’s a risky fight for Ryan to be coming off a year-long layoff to take on a fighter like Pitbull Cruz. I’m sure Tank Davis dismissed Cruz just like Ryan is now, and he almost lost.

People say Haney will do good against me

Ryan Garcia: “We’ll have to see. I feel like I’m better than him; I know I’m better than him. Haney is pretty good, but in his last two fights, I feel like I’m too explosive and too fast for Haney.

“My shots are definitely stronger than the people he’s fought. Anything can happen in that fight. He can move, he can do whatever, but I know that I’ll catch him, and we’ll see how he reacts.

“But even if he doesn’t react like that, I definitely have the skills to beat him. Haney is a skilled fighter and likes to move, and has that jab. If you notice that once he starts getting hit to the body with hard shots, he doesn’t really like it at all.”

If Ryan doesn’t fight Haney soon, it won’t be worth it because he will get beaten if he fights someone good like Vasily Lomachenko. Haney’s promoters at Matchroom Boxing have done an excellent job of protecting him, emphasizing older fighters past their prime.

If they put Haney in with Lomachenko or Tank, that’s a sure-fire loss for him. Whether Ryan can beat Haney is questionable because he doesn’t seem to be motivated to stay in the gym and work hard any longer.

Ryan is like a lot of fighters. Once they get a taste of money, they stop fighting and enjoy themselves. When they do try and come back, their skills are gone.