Ryan Garcia has publicly targeted Isaac Cruz for his next outing, and Hall of Famer Tim Bradley sees a clear winner should it happen.
Garcia marked the first defence of his WBC welterweight world title with a second-round stoppage of Conor Benn, opening himself up to some huge matchups at 147 lbs, including unifications against Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
Lopez seems to be the top target, but plans for that are for early-to-mid 2027, particularly since Lopez has had a firm order placed to defend against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall.
In the meantime, ‘King Ry’ is rightfully looking to build on the Benn momentum, and has said he wants to fight again in December, looking to make the ‘Pitbull’ Cruz fight that he says he has been wanting for years.
After his latest stoppage win over Nestor Bravo to defend his interim super-lightweight belt, Cruz publicly accepted the callout.
Bradley, however, does not want to see the fight, telling his YouTube subscribers that, although ‘Pitbull’ may be able to last the distance, he has no business fighting above 140lbs.
“I don’t want to say this damn Ryan Garcia vs Pitbull Cruz. Hell no. We want to see Ryan Garcia fight against Teofimo Lopez, or Devin Haney, or someone who’s got another belt. Get all them titles at welterweight.
“Pitbull, your ass on the back burner. You a 140 pounder, 135 to 140, that’s what you are man. You stay right there. Your little ass ain’t ready for no damn Ryan Garcia. [Cruz] can take a punch, he can probably take Ryan Garcia’s punch too, but we don’t want to see that s**t, man.”
Despite Cruz’s public statements on the fight, Garcia has recently said he believes the Mexican fan-favourite has backed down from the fight.
