One of the most popular active fighters from Mexico, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz will return to action on February 1st in Las Vegas' T-Mobile Center. Cruz will face Angel Fierro in a junior welterweight duel that marks Cruz’s first appearance in the ring since he lost his WBA title to Jose Valenzuela via split-decision in August. The main event that night will see David Benavidez defend the WBC light heavyweight title against David Morrell.
Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KOs) became a hampion in March as he hurt Rolando Romero badly in round one before eventually ending the fight in round eight via TKO to claim the WBA title. A native of Mexico City, Cruz shot up the rankings in 2020, with an electrifying first-round knockout over veteran Diego Magdaleno in October. Helater added dominant decisions over Francisco Vargas and Jose Matias Romero. This rise led to the 26-year old challenging the undefeated Tank Davis in December 2021, a fight that saw Cruz lose by decision to become just the second fighter to see the final bell against Davis. Trained by his father Isaac Cruz Sr., Cruz also owns stoppage wins over former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa and veteran contender Eduardo Ramirez, in addition to a twelve-round decision over the then-unbeaten Giovanni Cabrera.
“I’m very happy to be back in the ring on February 1st and in the fight capital of the world in Las Vegas,” said Cruz. “I’m facing a real Mexican warrior like myself and I’m excited to give fans the type of fight that they love. It will be a lot more entertaining than my last fight, when my opponent ran all night long and the judges made a terrible decision. This time, I will not leave it up to the judges, because I’m going for the knockout. Fierro and myself are going to show what Mexican style is all about and go toe-to-toe until someone gets knocked out.”
Originally from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, Fierro (22-2-2, 17 KOs) now fights out of San Diego and has made a name for himself with his aggressive style and power punching. The 26-year old has fought professionally since 2015 and was undefeated in his first 17 outings. He announced his presence as a world contender in 2021 with a career-best victory as he rose from the canvas to stop former champion Alberto Machado in round six. Most recently, Fierro had a three-fight winning streak snapped when he lost a June decision against Alfredo Santiago, with the only other loss of Fierro’s career coming via split-decision in January 2020 against Alex Martin. February 1st will mark Fierro’s third career fight stateside, and his first since a majority draw against Juan Carlos Burgos in March 2022.
“Ever since I turned professional, my dream was to fight in Las Vegas,” said Fierro. “Spending time training with my mentor and idol Erik Morales really taught me how to fight under pressure and now I have the perfect opponent to display those skills against in ‘Pitbull’ Cruz. I’m from Tijuana and we love facing fighters from Mexico City, it’s a tremendous rivalry. On February 1, the fans will be the winners, because I won’t take a step back. I’m coming to knock out ‘Pitbull’ and prove who is the best 140-pounder in Mexico.”
