The team surrounding Isaac Cruz continues its ‘Pitbull’ approach to land a lucrative rematch.
Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis has yet to reveal plans for his next fight, other than to recently confirm that he was done for the rest of the year and eyes a January 2024 ring return. An opponent is not attached to his ring return, which has left the door open for Mexico City’s Cruz to throw his hat in the ring to run it back with the sport’s leading box-office attraction and reigning secondary WBA lightweight titlist.
“When I travel around the US and Mexico and get stopped by boxing fans, the first question they always ask me is when Is Pitbull fighting Gervonta Davis again,” Sean ‘Viva’ Gibbons, head of Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, told BoxingScene.com. “It’s the only fight they want to see, involving Davis.
“Manny Pacquiao has only signed one non-Filipino fighter ever to his MP Promotions stable and that’s Issac ‘Pitbull Cruz, Jr. and backs him to win.”
Davis and Cruz are both aligned with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).
Cruz (25-2-1, 17KOs) accepted a December 2021 fight versus Davis (29-0, 27KOs) on just five weeks’ notice. The squat Mexican banger was a late replacement for then-unbeaten mandatory challenger Rolando Romero, who was forced to withdraw due to legal reasons which were dismissed after the fact.
Davis defeated Cruz but was forced to go the twelve-round distance to get there, which ended his 16-fight knockout streak. Scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113 for Davis in by far the most competitive fight of his meteoric rise to superstardom.
The fight ended an eighteen-fight unbeaten streak for Cruz, who has since won three straight. The most recent victory came in an awkward, twelve-round points victory over then-unbeaten Giovani Cabrera on July 29 in Las Vegas. He remains a prime candidate to challenge for a lightweight title should Devin Haney (30-0, 15KOs) either return to the weight or begin to let go of belts,
Still, there remains one fight on Cruz’s mind.
“PBC and Al Haymon are the only company in 2023 to give the boxing fans the fights the fans want,” noted Gibbons, the sport’s ultimate hype man.” PBC delivered Gervonta Davis versus Ryan Garcia, Errol Spence versus Terence Crawford and brought Canelo Alvarez back to the team and to mainstream fans with his fight versus Jermell Charlo. I see PBC giving the fans a huge [post]-Christmas gift with Pitbull-Tank II.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
