The strong effort against Davis earned Cruz another night at the big dance, this Saturday in “The Lonestar State.”
Fan-friendly warrior Isaac Cruz and former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa will meet on April 16 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The bout will serve as chief undercard bout to the April 16 Showtime PPV headlined by the Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas world welterweight unification.
Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KO’s) was the talk of boxing after going head-to-head with popular champion Gervonta Davis, giving as good as he got for the full fight, in a December UD loss. Despite the loss, Cruz garnered rave reviews from all of boxing and has now made a name for himself as a player to watch in the lightweight division. Only 23-years old, Cruz is young, tough, talented and makes for great fights.
However, those in the know already understood Cruz was a guy to watch. Going into the Davis fight, he had built a resume that included stoppages of former world title challengers Jose Felix and Diego Magdeleno, a decision over undefeated 24-0 Jose Romero and a win over former world champion Francisco Vargas.
Despite coming up short on the cards against massively popular Tank Davis, his outstanding performance was the talk of boxing; he certainly made his mark with both fans and fighters after that showing. The strong effort against Davis earned Cruz another night at the big dance, this Saturday in “The Lonestar State”, and Cruz, an exciting pressure fighter, plans to make the most of it.
Gamboa, 40, a former two-division champion, and Olympic gold medalist, is on the last lap of his career but his experience as a durable, former world champion makes him someone that you can’t sleep on.
While Gamboa comes into the fight off 2 straight losses, it should be noted that they were both to undefeated world champions (Gervonta Davis and Devin Haney) with a combined record of 46-0.
While boxing, and moving from the perimeter, would probably serve a Cruz opponent well, Gamboa’s 40-year-old legs, and his penchant for slugging in the trenches, should see this fight kick off at some point, probably early in the bout. And, that is going to make the sparks fly in this one; file under exciting while it lasts.
Sean Gibbons, who handles Cruz, caught up with MaxBoxing to share his thoughts on the fight and where he sees his man Cruz fitting in with the other champions at 135.
“Cruz is, as always, in great shape and is excited to bring the heat in Arlington”, said Vegas-based Gibbons, also the man behind Manny Pacquiao’s “MP Promotions”. “He earned another big fight after his fantastic performance against Tank Davis in his last fight. Cruz turned a lot of heads in that fight, and he is going to do it again”, he said.
As to how he sees the fight playing out?
“You can’t ever count out a guy like Gamboa who has a lot of world title experience, and can punch, but he had his time, and it is now Pitbull’s time, and he is going to show that in Texas. Gamboa is just the next guy in the way of Isaac fighting for a world title, so he’s gotta go” said Gibbons. “And go he will”, he added. “Isaac will be on this guy from bell one and he won’t stop until he’s outta there”.
And where does Gibbons see Cruz fitting into the 135-pound world title picture?
“Anyone, anywhere, anytime is the Pitbull motto,” said Gibbons. “Look at the division, it’s the most loaded in boxing. (Ryan) Garcia, (Teofimo) Lopez, (George) Kambosos, (Devin) Haney, the list goes on. There are some great fighters and champions at 135-pounds”, said Gibbons. “There are so many potential great matchups, and Pitbull is willing to face any of them. He’s young, hungry and is looking for the biggest fights that lead to a world title. As soon as the opportunity comes up, he’ll be ready”.
