Golden Boy Promotions are in the process of hammering out a deal for former lightweight world title challenger Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to face unbeaten contender Ryan Garcia for March or April on DAZN.
Steve Kim is reporting the news of the Cruz vs. Garcia fight being worked on by Golden Boy Promotions. It’ll be interesting to see if this match happens.
King Ry Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) revealed two weeks ago on social media the fight with the recently beaten 23-year-old ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) in the negotiation stages.
It remains to be seen if the Ryan vs. Cruz fight will happen. Unfortunately, Ryan has become the equivalent of the ‘boy that cried wolf’ with the way he’s called out numerous high-level fighters and failed to fight them.
In 2021, Ryan pulled out of two high-profile fights against Javier Fortuna and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz Jr., leaving boxing fans upset. Fans will likely remain skeptical about the Ryan Garcia vs. Isaac Cruz fight until they see the two inside the ring in March or April.
What fans also saw as strange was how Ryan fought in a WBC lightweight title eliminator against Luke Campbell to determine a mandatory for WBC champion Devin Haney. After Ryan won, he chose not to take the title shot. Needless to say, that move made Ryan look scared of Haney.
Until then, it’s safe to say that people will be unconvinced about the Garcia-Cruz fight happening.
Pitbull isn’t the type of fighter you would want to face if you were in the 23-year-old Ryan Garcia’s shoes, coming off a 15 to 16-month layoff.
That’s a long time for anyone to be out of the ring, especially someone who was dropped hard in his last fight by non-puncher Luke Campbell last January.
Cruz recently gave Mayweather Promotions a scare when he came close to defeating their flagship fighter WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, earlier this month on December 5th.
‘Pitbull’ Cruz was brought in as the replacement for the previously scheduled Tank Davis opponent Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on two weeks’ notice after the 24-year-old Rolly was pulled due to sexual assault allegations.
In an example of a cherry-pick gone bad, Cruz battered Tank, wearing him down like an old clock and exposing him for lacking an inside game to deal with the pressure.
As a matter of course, Tank looked utterly unprepared for the nonstop pressure style from the shorter 5’4″ Cruz, who continually worked his way to the inside and hammered him with multiple hooks to the body and head.
Tank was fighting on fumes by the championship rounds, worn down from the pressure and tremendous body attack from Pitbull Cruz. Somehow, Tank could squeeze out a close 12 round unanimous decision by the scores 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112.
In the eyes of many boxing fans, Cruz had done well known to deserve a draw or a victory, and he had exposed Tank.
After the fight, Tank posted a photo of his swollen left hand, which had supposedly been injured. However, Cruz wasn’t buying it, saying he had swollen hands, but it didn’t slow him down.
I was told that Golden Boy is trying to make a fight between Ryan Garcia and Isaac Cruz for March/April. Hats off if they actually get this done. Lets see where this goes… #boxing
— Steve Kimstobal (@SteveKim323) December 21, 2021