By Sam Volz: Trainer Robert Garcia says he believes Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz has got the power and the aggressive style to defeat undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney.
Garcia feels that Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) lacks the power in his punches to keep a fighter like Pitbull Cruz off him. While Haney might be able to outbox Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) for three rounds, he’d take over at that point.
Cruz stole the show last Sunday night with his second round knockout victory over Eduardo Ramirez on the Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Luis Ortiz card at the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.
After twice dropping Ramirez in the second round, the bout was halted. The crowd was cheering loudly for Cruz, who had won them over with his performance.
“People love Pitbull. The fight with Tank, we all thought Pitbull pulled it off. Even if he didn’t win, he won the fans. He won that fight. The fans were crazy over Pitbull,” said Robert Garcia to 21BoxingTv about Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz’s fight against Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis last December.
“You’re going to have to be a special boxer to beat Pitbull at 135. I don’t think Haney can hold Pitbull back because Haney doesn’t have the power to hold him back. I think so because I don’t think he can hold him back with his power,” said Garcia when asked if Pitbull could beat Haney.
“I don’t think he’s got that crazy power to hold him back. Pitbull can beat Haney. Pitbull is like a street fighter. He takes a really good punch, and he’s really strong, and he’s so aggressive.
He [Pitbull Cruz] throws punches from everywhere, and it’s going to be hard for Devin Haney to hold him back. I don’t think Haney has the power to land a punch to hurt him. It’s going to be a tough 12 rounds for Haney.
“He [Haney] can outbox him for three rounds, but it’s going to be hard to do it for 12 rounds. You got a little monster like Pitbull; it’s going to be hard. Nobody could outbox Mike Tyson back in the day, and it’s a similar style. Great power, great chin, and he just keeps coming like a street fighter. It’s going to be hard to beat Pitbull.
“So, I think that’s a fight that is going to happen. PBC is very smart, and they know that the first fight did really well on the gate,” said Robert about a rematch between Pitbull and Tank Davis.
“I believe they did millions of dollars in the gate. I think the rematch would do two or three times more, and the pay-per-view numbers are also going to be double,” said Garcia.
