Former champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz returned to winning ways with a decision victory over fellow Mexican Angel Fierro. The pair squared off on the undercard of David Benavidez vs David Morrell, live on pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on February 1.
The scheduled 10-round super lightweight bout went the full distance. Cruz, from Mexico City, came out on top, defeating Tijuana’s Fierro by unanimous decision. The scores were 96-94, 97-93, and 98-92.
With the victory, Isaac Cruz, who was looking for a “new beginning,” improved to 27-3-1, with 18 KOs. The 26-year-old former WBC 140-pound champion got back in the win column after dropping his belt by split decision to Jose Valenzuela last August.
“I came here to fight and show the world the best of what I can do, and I think I did that,” Cruz said. “I entertained the crowd and gave them a show. I’m so happy that I gave the fans a great fight with a lot of pressure, like I always do, and I’m proud to do it with my family here watching.”
“Fierro deserves all the respect in the world, and I take my hat off to him. Thank you to all the fans who came to support me, because that’s who I fight for.”
Angel Fierro dropped to 23-3-2, with 18 KOs. The 26-year-old asked for a rematch.
“I came here to give the fans a great fight and leave it all in the ring,” Fierro said. “I don’t care about the judges; I care about the fans. But I do hope that ‘Pitbull’ gives me a rematch because I think I deserve it.”
“I trained for eight weeks and worked really hard to leave everything in the ring. My name will stand forever because Angel Fierro did his thing tonight. I went into the ring with determination, and I fought with my heart. We showed everything that Mexican boxing is all about tonight.”
In the main event, David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs) of Phoenix, AZ defeated David Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) from Cuba by unanimous decision to retain his WBC interim light heavyweight title and claim the WBA ‘Regular’ belt. In the co-main event, Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA defeated Brandon Figueroa (25-2-1, 19 KOs) of Weslaco, TX by unanimous decision in a rematch to become the new WBC featherweight champion.
Kicking off the action, Jesus Ramos Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) of Casa Grande, AZ stopped former unified super welterweight champion Jeison Rosario (24-5-2, 18 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in the eighth round at middleweight.