Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz says he’d be willing to step in as Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ next opponent later this year after he takes care of Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela this Saturday night, August 3rd, in their fight at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) is defending his WBA light welterweight title against ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov on DAZN and ESPN+ PPV.
Chasing Big Payday
With the big payday that ‘Pitbull’ Cruz got for his fight against Tank Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) in December 2021 in a losing effort, you can understand why he’d be anxious to fight him again. The money will be huge for Cruz.
Tank beat Cruz by a close twelve-round unanimous decision at the Staples Center on December 5th, 2021, and some fans felt that it should have gone the other way. Davis supposedly was fighting with an injured hand, which made it difficult for him to get full power on his punches.
“I’m in top condition to be able to be considered to fight Gervonta on whatever date is available at the end of the year, and if it happens, I will be ready,” said Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to Boxingscene about his desire to step in and face Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis later this year, provided he wins his fight this Saturday night against Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela on August 3rd.
WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson and William Zepeda are the two strong candidates for Tank’s next fight. Now that Lomachenko is out of the running, it’s believed that Tank Davis will choose one of those two for his next fight in November or December.
Valenzuela’s Challenging Style
It’s not a given that ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, 26, will get by the hard-hitting ‘Rayo,’ who has adopted a similar style as Vasily Lomachenko, using movement that makes him difficult to hit.
That style could give Pitbull fits on August 3rd, and he’ll have to be ready to pursue Rayo around the ring if he wants to land his power shots successfully.
Cruz looked impressive dethroning WBA 140-lb champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero last March, knocking him out in the eighth round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Pitbull may need to look in a different direction for his next fight than Tank Davis. Cruz has few options to fight at 140 unless former WBC champion Devin Haney looks in his direction.
