'Pitbull' Cruz sinks his teeth into crushing victorty over Nestor Bravo

SAN DIEGO – Being chased by a ravenous dog is beyond frightening.

After more than five rounds of working to keep the vicious attack at bay, Nestor Bravo felt the full bite of Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz Saturday night at Pechanga Arena.

Unleashing a destructive left hook to Bravo’s jaw, Mexico’s Cruz knocked out the Puerto Rican in the sixth round to impressively retain his WBC interim 140lbs belt.

Bravo, 24-2, resorting to holding, shoving and low blows that earned him two deductions during the night-long assault, was clearly out of his league versus the former 140lbs world champion.

A Cruz left hook to the ear wobbled Bravo in the first round and as he rebounded off the ropes, he fell forward, convincing referee Thomas Taylor that a knockdown should be scored.

Bravo was reduced to obsessively holding Cruz whenever Cruz’s hammer punches would land, bringing Taylor to deduct a point from the Puerto Rican in the second round.

Bravo twice hit Cruz with low blows in the third. Taylor didn’t take a point, but Cruz extracted his own toll by belting Bravo in the head with a vicious right.

Bravo lost another point for pushing Cruz to the canvas in the fourth. Cruz retaliated with a brutal left to the jaw, generating a chorus of barking from the appreciative crowd.

Bravo dared to mention the Puerto Rican great Felix Trinidad as an influence during fight week. With all his holding and ducking, he fought a lot more like another resident of the territory who sought evasive tactics in his recent knockout loss to Anthony Joshua, Jake Paul.

Cruz, in line to fight next month’s full WBC title winner between new champion Dalton Smith and former titlist Alberto Puello, also said he’d be willing to meet WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia, who has expressed interest in taking a bout between now and his intended Cinco de Mayo 2027 opponent Teofimo Lopez.