Isaac Cruz defends his WBA Super-Lightweight World Title this weekend against Jose Valenzuela.
The Mexican fan-favourite is a thrilling watch each and everytime he steps through the ropes and will look to make his first successful defence after winning the belt from Rolando Romero. That fight was his debut at 140 after 28 fights at lightweight, 27 of them wins and one being a loss to Gervonta Davis.
Rangey southpaw Valenzuela presents a tough test in Los Angeles but the bookmakers favour the all-action pressure and inside game of Cruz. Where it will rank in amongst his hardest fights remains to be seen.
Speaking to DAZN, ‘Pitbull’ highlighted the power of both ‘Tank’ and ‘Roly’, but said the latter put up the tougher fight.
“The hardest punch I ever received was from Gervonta Davis and Roly Romero. The toughest fight I ever had, it was against Roly Romero.”
It’s a surprising pick from the rising star given he lost to ‘Tank’ and dealt with Romero within eight rounds in a fight that he was dominant, chasing the trash-talking but out-of-depth American around the ring until he could land his finishing blows.
The punch stats from the ‘Tank’ fight were close and Cruz has long called for a rematch – one he has good claim to since he is only the second man to take the Baltimore puncher the distance, even if Davis revealed he injured his hand at the mid-point. Some in the sport believe it will be the next fight for him should he come through ‘Rayo’ this weekend.
