Isaac Cruz Wants The Tank Davis Rematch This Year – ‘I Will Be Ready’
Isaac Cruz is interested in rematching Gervonta Davis this year.
The two faced off in 2021 as Davis won a unanimous decision in a 135-pound clash. Despite suffering a defeat, Pitbull was praised for his come-forward style. After the fight, Davis revealed he injured his hand, raising question marks over how well Pitbull did. However, there is an incentive to run things back now. Cruz is the WBA Junior Welterweight Champion.
He stopped Rolando Romero to claim his first-ever world title. Davis is coming off a stoppage win over Frank Martin as he defended his WBA Lightweight Title. He was targeting a fight against Vasily Lomachenko. However, Loma’s manager, Egis Klimas, has said his fighter is not motivated to take that fight now. Meanwhile, Bob Arum felt Loma would box next year.
Cruz On Davis
Davis’ team has said they intend to send Shakur Stevenson a contract. Shakur has the WBC belt at 135, setting up a unification. He is also a free agent after his Top Rank contract expired. After beating Artem Harutyunyan, Shakur turned down a five-fight deal with Top Rank worth $15 million. If the Davis-Stevenson fight fails, Pitbull could step in as he was ready to show his skills.
“It is surprising because I thought it was almost a done deal, but then again, if he didn’t want to fight him, you’ve got to respect Lomachenko’s decision. And then that just means that 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. I don’t know, but you got to respect his decision. I don’t know what other names you can bring to the table for Gervonta, but I only hope it can be attractive to the fans,” Cruz said
However, several obstacles need overcoming. Cruz would have to beat Jose Valenzuela in the first defense of his title. He boxes on the Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov card on August 3. Valenzuela’s record stands at 13-2 with nine knockouts. Despite being beaten twice, he avenged his loss to Chris Colbert in his last fight with a sixth-round KO win.
Will It Happen?
The other issue is whether Davis would take this fight. He has been facing criticism that he has not faced the biggest names. His biggest win so far has been the seventh-round TKO win over Ryan Garcia. However, Garcia appeared weight-drained at 136 pounds. Meanwhile, the 10-lb rehydration clause also hindered him.
Since Davis has already beaten Cruz, there is not a lot of enthusiasm from the boxing fans to see that fight. Tank could move up to 140 and chase the biggest names. Fights with Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez are some of the big names for junior welterweights. But if it is Cruz, Pitbull was focused on getting past Valenzuela first.
“I’m going to be ready to go from the opening bell up to the final second of the fight. And my goal is to give fans a great show and to come out on top in the end,” Cruz added
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