Davis vs. Cruz: Tank Out To Tame Pitbull
A late opponent pull-out threatened to derail Gervonta Davis’ plans of a second fight of 2021 but ‘Tank’ will make his return to the ring this weekend against a replacement challenger.
Now one of boxing’s leading stars, Davis is fresh off another devastating knockout victory over Mario Barrios last June and will look to maintain his rampant rise when he meets dangerous Mexican Isaac Cruz.
At The Staples Center in LA, California, ‘Tank’ is primed to headline his latest Showtime pay-per-view, following on from back-to-back stoppage successes over Leo Santa Cruz and Barrios on the biggest stages.
The Baltimore-born fighter was initially scheduled to face Rolando Romero before ‘Rolly’ was involved in high-profile allegations and an ongoing police investigation called a halt to the awaited match-up.
Unbeaten Cruz, who has two victories this year and was already preparing to feature on the undercard this weekend, subsequently stepped up to the main event position for a shot at the WBA lightweight champion.
Ahead of the latest anticipated ‘Tank’ fight night in LA, BOXRAW outline everything you need to know with our Davis and Cruz fight preview.
Everything You Need To Know
Fight: Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz
Titles: WBA lightweight title
Date: Sunday, December 5th
Time: Approx 4am GMT / 23:00 ET
Live On: Showtime PPV in USA / TBC in UK/Ireland
PPV Cost: $74.99 in USA
Location: The Staples Center, LA, California
Undercard: Sebastian Fundora vs. Sergio Garcia, Sergey Derevyanchenko vs. Carlos Adames, Eduardo Ramirez vs. Miguel Marriaga
Davis vs. Cruz Fight Preview
Having jumped up two weight divisions to stop Barrios and claim the WBA light-welterweight title last June in Georgia, Davis is now dropping back down to lightweight, where he holds another WBA belt.
Lightweight is a division with a rich boxing history and the current climate has held the potential for further massive fights for some time now. Alongside ‘Tank’, the likes of Vasyl Lomachenko, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are touted future foes, while newly-crowned unified champion George Kambosos Jr. is a promising possible opponent after he dethroned Teofimo Lopez.
For Davis, it’s late replacement Cruz that will first stand in front of him aiming to derail any of those more prosperous career bouts. Known as ‘Pitbull’, he has racked up two wins this year over Jose Matias Romero and Francisco Vargas, while he also earned a 53-second KO triumph over Diego Magdaleno on the Davis vs. Santa Cruz undercard back in October last year.
There’s a clear threat for ‘Tank’ and Cruz’s aggressive style could make for a fire-fight once the opening bell sounds in California. Although, on the back of 16 straight stoppage successes and, having only gone the distance once in his career so far (over six rounds), Davis will be confident of ending this one early once again.
With the prospect of bigger name clashes next in 2022 and even more world titles on the horizon, Davis will take to his latest PPV spectacle in search of yet another statement showing to finish the year in typically devastating fashion.
Header image: Mayweather Promotions
