Isaac Cruz scored a first knockout victory in five as he defended his WBC Interim super-lightweight title for the second time with a stoppage of Nestor Bravo in San Diego, and now Bravo has assessed the power of ‘Pitbull’.
Cruz and Bravo became the latest Mexican-Puerto Rican boxing rivalry as the Arecibo-born challenger attempted to pull off the upset and intercept Cruz’s looming shot at Dalton Smith’s WBC super-lightweight world title by capturing his Interim strap.
It wasn’t to be for Bravo as Cruz dominated a scrappy affair and twice floored his rival, with the latter being a devastating left-hook that closed the show in style and awarded the Mexican a first win inside of the distance since he won the WBA super-lightweight title against Rolando Romero in 2024.
Despite the damning defeat, Bravo, who had previously never been stopped, told FightHub that he was caught out by Cruz’s awkwardness and size, or lack of, rather than his punch power.
“To be honest, he is not the heaviest hitter. He’s just a little bit uncomfortable with his height, I don’t know. He was a little bit taller on weight day, when he took it off he was a little bit shorter, so there was a couple of shots that I didn’t see coming.
“It’s not as if his hands are heavy, but it’s the shots that you don’t see coming that hurt you. From the first round, he came in with a shot behind the head – it was not on purpose – but that was the shot that really buzzed me from the first-round.”
‘Pitbull’ is now being linked to a fast turnaround and challenge for Ryan Garcia’s WBC title at welterweight, but a decision will need to be made quickly, with Garcia also understood to be in early talks for a title unification with WBA welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez.
