Isaac Cruz Wants Immediate Rematch After Surprise World Title Loss To Jose Valenzuela

Isaac Cruz has publicly stated his desire for an immediate rematch with Jose Valenzuela after losing their super-lightweight world title bout on Saturday.

Cruz (26-3-1 18 KO) was making the first defense of his WBA belt against Valenzuela (14-2-0 9 KO) in the co-main event of the Riyadh Season card headlined by Terence Crawford’s points win over WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov.

In an all-Mexican battle, ‘Pitbull’ fell to a surprise split-decision defeat; one judge awarded Cruz the win 115-113 but the other two sided with Valenzuela 116-112.

The fight played out how it was expected to, with Cruz applying front-foot pressure and operating from the inside, while the taller, rangier Valenzuela boxed on the outside and attacked on the counter.

It was the challenger’s game plan that proved more successful as Valenzuela outlanded the champion in both overall punches and power punches.

For Cruz, the defeat was a bitter setback to his hopes of securing a rematch with the WBA’s lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, whom he faced in 2019 at short notice and gave ‘Tank’ the toughest fight of his career.

Instead, ‘Pitbull’ has turned his focus back to Valenzuela and hopes to arrange a rematch in order to try and win his belt back, saying: “For sure. I’d like to lay it on the line and officially request a rematch.”

Cruz, who enjoyed the majority of the crowd’s support inside the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, believes he did enough to win the fight.

“Just listen to this crowd,” he said. “They are the judges, not me. I just have to do my job and let everyone else decide. I would like to officially request a rematch. I would definitely like to throw that down.”

Victory for Valenzuela marks an impressive turnaround having lost two of his last three fights at lightweight, although he did avenge his defeat to Chris Colbert by beating the New Yorker in a rematch last December.

“I’m speechless, speechless for a dream that came true,” Valenzuela said. “I just had to be smart. I didn’t get desperate. I did not fall under the pressure. I just stayed calm. I felt great. I felt I was in control the whole time, using my speed, using my footwork. This is for my mom and dad and all the sacrifices they made.”

Valenzuela will now need to decide what’s next. The rematch with Cruz and another all-Mexican battle holds plenty of appeal and could even be a strong enough match-up to headline a show.

Alternatively, he could take aim at another super-lightweight champion and attempt to secure a unification bout. WBA champion Teofimo Lopez and IBF title holder Liam Paro are available having both recently fought to defend and win their titles respectively. The WBC title is currently unclaimed after Devin Haney vacated due to his refusal to accept the purse bid to fight mandatory challenger Sandor Martin.