By David Finger at ringside
There are some fights that just transcend the sport and become instant classics. They remind fans just what this sport can give you in return for your investment of time and passion.
Hagler-Hearns. Gatti-Ward I. Ali-Frazier I. Carbajal-González I.
And now we can add Cruz-Fierro to that list.
In what has to be an early lock for fight of the year, Issac “PitBull” Cruz and Angel “Tashiro” Fierro traded bombs for the better part of ten rounds, leaving fans on their feet in appreciation for the absolute war for the WBC Aztec warrior belt. The bout, which was a tribute to the recently deceased former Mexican world champion Israel Vazquez, was widely expected to be an all action affair before the fight, but it more than lived up to the anticipation and was a worthy tribute to the legendary Vazquez, who wowed fans with many classic wars in his day.
Before the fight Fierro promised to take the fight to Cruz. However Cruz was unmoved by the statement and dismissed the promise of Fierro to be in Cruz’s face and being the action to him.
Cruz gave a response comprobable to the famous Mike Tyson quote about everyone having a plan until they get punched in the face at the weigh-in on Friday afternoon.
“Everyone says they aren’t going to run away from me before the fight and what do they end up doing? Running away from me.”
And as the bell sounded and the first round kicked off it looked like Fierro was going to be another fighter who second guessed their planned strategy when Cruz landed his first punch.
Cruz immediately threw bombs in round one and piled on serious pressure on Fierro, prompting Fierro to take a backward step and try and catch his breath.
The relentless pressure of Cruz continued in round two and Fierro seemed unable to formulate a strategy to counter it. Spending a dangerous amount of time on the ropes, Cruz was landing heavy shots and cracked Fierro with a right hand late in the second that seemed to indicate it could be a long night for Fierro. But midway through round three Fierro decided to dig deep and show the world what a Mexican warrior can do when his back is against the ropes. Trading bombs with Cruz in the closing minute of round three, Fierro caught Cruz with a solid right hand to the chin that clearly stunned Pitbull.
From thst point on it was an absolute war as both met refused to back down and threw bombs. Cruz regained control in round four, but Fierro was not giving him an inch and by round seven Fierro was showing signs of a rally. Both men swung for the fences in round nine and in round ten, perhaps recognizing he was probably trailing on the judges scorecards, Fierro actually upped the pressure from what was already a relentless pace and seemed to rattle Cruz. But Cruz himself was not done with the fireworks and landed some left hooks of his own. The all action tenth round was the perfect exclamation point on what will go down as a legendary fight, but in the end Cruz was simply more accurate with his power punches and emerged with the well deserved unanimous decision by scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94. With the win Cruz sees his record improve to 27-3-1, 18 KOs while Fierro falls to 23-3-2, 18 KOs. Despite the loss there can be little question that Fierro’s stock rose after his performance.
Good fight, Cruz was fading in the latest rounds.
Fierro a brave opponent, took everything from Cruz
That Cruz always comes to fight and he is one tough warrior. I will always hold him in high regard for whipping Romero. Credit to Fierro for the tenacity and durability he showed.