A few days ago, the Mexican fighter, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, had achieved his long-awaited ‘payday’, as even without being notified, he knew that he would finally face Ryan Garcia on his return to the ring after his suspension for illegal substance use. To prepare for his triumphant return, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh organized a series of three fights that would conclude with the long-awaited rematch between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney
For this, ‘King Ry‘ would face a street fight in New York in May and would then face Haney in October, with the trilogy ending with a welterweight title fight in Riyadh in early 2026. Everything was going well, as several reports indicate that both Alalshikh and the ‘King Ry’ team were eager to face the Mexican. Garcia even made the announcement on his X account
However, everything fell apart when it emerged that the ‘Pitbull’ rejected the proposal and the Mexican-American’s team decided to choose Rolando ‘Roly’ Romero, former WBA super lightweight champion, as the opponent for his return
The ‘Pitbull‘ will face Angel Fierro this Saturday in the co-main event of the fight between David Morrell vs David Benavidez at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Why did the fight between ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Ryan Garcia fall through?
During the final stage of the promotions, Issac Cruz gave his version of what happened and why he decided not to face Garcia in what seemed to be a fight of uncertain outcome
In an interview with Fight Hub TV, the Mexican explained that he felt pressured to sign with Garcia because he would not have enough time to prepare to fight again in May: “Well, they were pressuring us to sign the fight as soon as possible,” he revealed
Then they replied to Ryan Garcia’s team that although they were interested in the fight, they had to wait for the normal recovery and preparation times: “We told them: Yes, I’m interested, but for now, I want to focus on my fight on February 1 against Fierro. Then, once I secure the victory, we can talk about what’s next.”
And he said that he made it clear to Garcia‘s team that after Saturday’s fight he would be ready to face anyone: “Whether it’s Ryan, Gervonta or any other name. I have no problem facing anyone as long as I have the right time to prepare”.
They asked him if he thought it was “weird” that Ryan Garcia‘s team was pushing him to sign and the Mexican said “yes” and added: “they were practically demanding it” and this led them to go after Rolly Romero instead, whom Pitbull himself easily defeated last year
Pitbull insists on seeking out Gervonta Davis
Finally, Isaac Cruz indicated that once he gets out of his commitment this Saturday, his goal is to get the rematch against Gervonta Davis before he decides to retire, so he would seek to finalize the rematch this year, after ‘Tank‘ defeated him in a great fight in 2021. “And I’ll tell you one thing. We’re going to be asking for the rematch in the not too distant future. I deserve it. I want it. And it’s coming,” the Mexican said that night.