By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (29-0, 26 KOs) of Baltimore retained his world title but he had his hands full in winning a twelve round unanimous decision over IBF #2 Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (22-2, 15 KOs) of Mexico City, Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Scores were 116-112, 115-113, 115-113.
Davis worked the jab to start the fight, Cruz pressured, attacking to the body and connecting with wild swings. Later in the round, Cruz slipped, which dropped the Davis supporters to their feet. Cruz came right at Davis to begin the second and continued to swarm him with wild punches. In the third, Gervonta kept his distance as Cruz kept coming aggressively. Davis kept boxing in the fourth using his skill against Cruz’s aggressiveness.
Referee Thomas Taylor warned Davis in round five for leaning and holding Cruz’s head down. In the sixth, Davis kept his distance as Cruz was relentlessly continuing to go forward. Cruz cornered Davis to begin the seventh, later in the round Tank and Pitbull traded in the center of the ring. It was an intense eighth round as Cruz connected with solid shots backing up Davis.
Late in the ninth, Davis and Cruz exchanged left hooks and both connected at the same time. Davis retreated and boxed. Cruz cornered Davis to start the tenth and was the aggressor backing Davis up to the ropes with big punches, taking it to the champ. The Mexican kept on coming in the championship rounds attacking from every angle possible. The twelfth and final round saw Cruz continuing to go at Davis, displaying the aggression.
Late in the bout, Davis fought one-handed due to a hand injury.
What a robbery !!
Every replay they showed in slow motion of Tank supposedly landing a great shot was either completely blocked or partially blocked. Punch stat numbers were BS. Great job by Issac, thought he pulled it off but we all know the game. If you aren’t the house fighter you have to win 9 rounds to maybe get a split decision. That’s just the disgusting truth.
STALLONE: You thought Cruz should have gotten the nod??? ♂️
I had it close 115-113 tank. Don’t think tank beats kambosis though
Davis ran 3/4 of the fight
Why? BeCause his upset win. Now he’s better than tank?
It, might have been a tie at best. Although I could see 7-5 to Cruz. I believe Davis lost this fight.
I agree 7-5 Cruz. Davis running kid lost the fight
Highway robbery. Davis was outhustled and cruz pounded him the last two rounds. What in the world were people watching man.
Cruz did do anything he was clearly out boxed…. This is boxing not a street fight
What a robbery my god !!!! Very similar like JL Castillo vs Mayweather !! Terrible !! Purchased judges !!
If it was similar to JL Castillo and May then Cruz lost.. bottom feeder betas still trying to pin a loss on May
Mayweather, should have lost to Zab Judah.
Hands is exactly what Mayweather caught against Castillo.
I enjoyed watching it for free. F Floyd and Tank, tank Can be neat but Floyd will never expose him that type of fight. Only against guys like Cruz who are good, but not good enough to beat his fighters .
That’s why Davis said he would not fight Cruz again.
Had it 7-5 Cruz. If you can take tank punch he doesn’t have much. Kambosis beats the crap out of him
U MF r blind Tank clearly won the fight but that Cruz is a bad man.
Now they are all Kambosis fans.. when the top dogs gets even a scratch, that means he lost and everything is rigged to these haters.. they don’t like Tank because he’s not “respectful” enough, in their trifling minds…
Lol!!! Carlton, go do your dance brother, you’ve lost your mind.
That’s why people like you could never be a ref…you bring your personal feelings into the realm of reality. Cruz was out boxed ! Cruz cannot box, he’s a straight forward walke, a slugger. The boxer always beats the slugger…etc Muhammad Ali vs Foreman, Frazier and so on
Not always Leon Spinks vs Ali, Mike Tyson vs Almost everybody. Maidana vs Broner. So many I can’t list them all. Slugger vs Boxers are about 50 /50.
You can be outboxed and look stylish, like I said before whoever lands more punches wins PERIOD
Lmao Tank definitely won the fight and he picked and chose when to bang, he was starting to pick it up before hurting his hand. Cruz even stated he noticed around the 5th round he wasn’t using it as much and once the pain got to bad he stopped using it all together. Much respect to Cruz he kept coming forward and trying to make it a fight. Tank was on the west coast in a heavily Mexican fan base in LA. Watch the fight with no crowd noise, they reacted to everything Cruz was throwing.
Uh no. Davis was rocked several times. Cruz was the much busier fighter with fair to moderate accuracy. Plus Davis got pounded the last two rounds. I’m saying this as a Davis fan. Davis took the most punishment.
Cruz landed a few punches but Davis was never rocked or in trouble.
You need to watch the fight again, Davis definitely hurt a few times!
Cruz was knocked down twice neither counted as knock down. Better yet Cruz was just out boxed. Cruz is not a boxer he’s a brawler. Cruz does have a good chin though he ate Tanks uppercuts. Tank literally beat him with one hand.
Well said !! Congrats
Yeah, but no. Nice try. Live feed tells a different story. The crowd was silent throughout because they were in shock at what was happening.
Cruz didn’t say that the interviewer said it
Tank looked ordinary at best, bullshit excuse about his injured left hand, he couldn’t figure out a guy who pressured him all night. If Cruz had better boxing skills he would of won the fight, I thought it was a draw. Haney vs Davis looks like a boring fight, Davis should fight Ryan Garcia otherwise he’ll have to wait to fight Kambosos or Haney.
It was a close fight and Cruz put a lot of pressure on Tank. He stopped throwing in the later rounds and Cruz took full advantages of the lapses by Davis. It was a close fight but Davis won enough of the early and middle rounds to edge out the decision. Cruz was the one who finished strong and won over the crowd. The damaged hand was probably to blame for Tank’s late round performance.
I’d like to see Tank against Kambosos, Haney or Ryan Garcia. A rematch against Pitbull just isn’t as attractive as those potential matchups.
davis isnt the boxer i thought he was. i cant see him beating any of the above. Davis was never in control except for maybe a few rounds in my opinion. at the end of the day Tank is on his way out of the division by next years end. He never had cruz in serious trouble. Garcia will KO him within 6 rounds. You could tell at the end of the fight his body language told the story. He lost.
Joe Cruz lost the fight….look at the punch count totals. Who looked like an amateur out there swinging wildly and missing ?
Tough fight for Davis because Cruz is a stylistic nightmare, and Cruz has a chin that is made from the pyramids of deep Mexico. 116-112 Davis was a stretch. 115-113 Davis was fair. Folks could argue a draw, but I did not see a draw because Cruz really needed that 12th round.
Cruz did a great job, but he missed a few too many punches, while Davis’ punches were a touch more effective. It was too bad Cruz did not work a jab more because it would have made his inside approach better for more accurate power punches. I was wondering why Davis stopped using his very important left hand that was clearly scoring, and it was revealed he was a one hand bandit during the second (2nd) half of the fight.
Overall, tonight was a solid night of Sunday boxing before I hit the office in the morning.
So Davis doesn’t wear Canelos gloves because of Floyd and gets a hand injury??? Floyd needs to grow up and mature…
Tank is a good Boxing IQ but Cruz disappointed me-with one punch at a time and the same rhythm all night while telegraphing his power shots
Two of the supposed ‘killers’ that make up this money division at 135 looked mediocre at best going life and death this weekend with B- level smaller opponents, while Teo got beat up against a 10 to 1 underdog and Rygar won’t fight anybody. Just Sayin’. Maybe the NABE is taking your money without delivering the goods? Just sayin’, again:)
Davis won fight..He did what he had to do…He will return to knockout artist in his next fight
I could not stop laughing when Davis was asked if he would give Cruz a rematch, and Davis replied…HELL NOOOO!!! Cruz is hell on wheels!!
Davis said Cruz became a star tonight. I say Cruz became SUPER MAS MACHO tonight!!!
Showtime, Al Haymon and Mayweather promotions are a match made in heaven. Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood, that WWE nitro fool and Brian Custer are bought and paid for. Abner Mares is an honorable mention bought Ho. This whole telecast was biased. Rigged game. Mayweather making it racial….Straight Mexican fighter hater.
PS: Watching post fight press conference. Mayweather made it all about him and black fighters.
This…All because the theme of the press conference was that it was a questionable win.
Victimology at its finest.
As long as the race card is an ace instead of a deuce, it will always get played. Too many people give it that ace value instead of the deuce value that it deserves. Once that changes, you won’t see it played anymore but until it does then it will always get played.
best part of this weekend was that the main events were not competing against each other at the same time. Nothing wrong with watching big fights on a Sunday * it seems to work just fine for the NFL.
I wish Davis hadn’t hurt his left hand
I didn’t watch the fight. I had to work.. but judging from the comments. I have to see this fight.. did he really make Tank look ordinary? The guy just comes forward and throws punches like Maidana. Did he try the check hook?.. the more I hear about these fighters finally stepping up. The more I’m starting to think that Loma is going to be a boogie man when he makes his comeback and everyone is going back to their hibernation to avoid him
Tank got out hustled plain and simple. Hurt take a few times which was obvious. Just because a guy doesnt stagger doesnt mean he wasnt hurt. You could see it. Plus at the end inflicted the most punishment. Bad hand? Bad fight on tanks part. Reminded me of last weeks fight with the Australian. Cruz came to win walked through most of everything tank brought to the table. I’m a Davis fan, but the facts are the judges need to go to a judging seminar.
Joe what do you do for a living? Clearly it’s not boxing referee or judge. Stay in your lane….you can have any opinion but it just your opinion and doesn’t hold any weight. Cruz lost…..PERIOD
Gervonta “Tank” Davis won this fight by the scorecard fair and square. It’s clear the writer of this article bet on the fight and lost.. lol. How in the hell can’t you capitalize on a fighter with one good hand for 6 whole rounds.. and you (Pitbull) couldn’t take advantage of that and finish him? Cruz was clumsy and swinging wildly and falling all night. That injured hand of Tank’s saved Cruz tasting the canvas and he even said he knew Tank was injured, come on. Mexico was in the audience and got yall hyped up just to be let right back down. It’s onward and upward for Tank, no rematch required.
X-ray Tanks ribs, he grimaced several times when Cruz pummeled them. His hand is alright, he was able to walk on it backwards.
There’s a guy named Baltek on Youtube who uploaded a live feed. It’s much different than you think.
Cruz, won this fight. You can even see the disappointment in Tank’s eyes he knew he loss the fight.
Would love to see a Davis vs. Cruz rematch in Mexico City. Why not? Ali fought the man with the greatest chin of all time, George Chuvalo, in his backyard of Toronto!
Cruz is not a payday for anyone
– I turned off the TV in the 7th Round because of constant buffering, plus I was tired.
– Looks like I missed a controversial rest of the fight.
– With that said, I don’t believe that this card was PPS worthy (and for $75 – ouch). Should have been on regular ShowTime.
It seems that every time the A fighter has a bad fight or loses, there’s always an excuse. Davis injured his hand. Now I read something somewhere about Teofimo López fighting sick and should’ve died in the fight. What a bunch of crap.
This fool isn’t a champion, kambosos owns the real WBA belt.
Wow! This lightweight division is up for grabs! What a mess! You have guys like Haney and now Tank who can’t seem to solidify themselves as the top dog! But I gotta admit… Tank has been more active over this last year so I’ll give him a pass! He needs a good break! As for all the other cats IDK?! Styles do make fights for sure!!
Hand injury? Davis was bouncing his hand on the mat in the 12th when he hit the mat while running from Cruz. Oldest excuse and you confirm it as gospel.
With one month notice, Cruz got off the couch and did this? No wonder Davis said h#%* no! No rematch. Run Davis run, you’re exposed, they’re coming for you. Don’t take it hard, take care of your money.
I was able to catch a live feed without the broadcasters. Wayyy different fight. All I heard were the shots and the crowd.
No way Tank won, at all. Cruz landed so e serious bombs both upstairs and downstairs. To Tanks credit, he is definitely made of granite.
The crowd was awkwardly quiet except for the few rallies that Davis had.
At the very least, 115-113 Cruz. Tank Davis did not control the fight in any way that the scorecards presented.
Tank Davis was never in full control of the match fighting backwards and not wanting to trade. it was weird to see as Davis is always the killer stalking but this timed he looked aware and very surprise as Cruz never stopped coming forward fearless. He fought a very smart fight he es outlining Davis and Davis felt his power otherwise he would have never run all rounds like he did. A rematch must happen and Cruz needs a full training camp and to concentrate fully on Davis I feel the outcome would be much different.
I think the commentators and those that choose replay segments create a lot of confusion by their bias. Watch it without them and you’ll clearly see that Cruz won this bout. Unless you like running and hugging. Davis fought dirty as was evident by the continuos warnings. Davis wasn’t expecting this from a guy that was barely given time to get off the couch. He’s exposed and on his way out. Come get him.
This man tank beat this man with one hand.
No one has mentioned a very important detail that had to do with the excuse of ” hurting my hand” on the latest rounds Tank went to the floor and landed in his butt, and here is the detail he used both hands to show off that he was strong and walked with boths his hands like 3 times , someone that has a hurt hands knuckles would not do that. Hurt hands my ass, he lost the fight period.