By Dan Ambrose: Highly rated Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz is reportedly the frontrunner to replace Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero as the opponent for WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis to defend against on December 5th on SHOWTIME PPV at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
This is a significant upgrade from the unpolished Rolly if they use the 23-year-old ‘Pitbull’ Cruz as the replacement, but he’s not a household name in the United States.
Isaac Cruz is not well known
If the idea is to find a replacement for Rolly that will bring in the PPV buys on Showtime, ‘Pitbull’ Cruz is not the guy Tank, and Mayweather Promotions needs.
Mike Coppinger reports that unbeaten ‘Rolly’ Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) is about to be removed by Showtime from the December 5th card due to him being accused of sexual assault.
According to ESPN, the woman accusing the 24-year-old Romero has reported it to the police. The police are currently investigating it in Henderson, Las Vegas
#2 IBF, #7 WBA, #9 WBO, and #11 WBC lightweight contender ”Pitbull’ Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) was previously considered Tank Davis’ opponent for the December 5th card before Rolly Romero was picked.
Cruz, 23, is arguably more talented and skilled than Rolly, but he’s not nearly as big at 5’4,” and he’s not as well known to the casual boxing fans in the U.S.
Given that fans are unfamiliar with ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and the fact that he won’t be able to help sell the Tank Davis fight the way Rolly could, it’s going to make this a tough sell for Showtime.
It would be a wiser move for Showtime, Tank Davis, and Mayweather Promotions to take former IBF light welterweight champion Regis Prograis up on his offer to replace Rolly.
In a social media post, Prograis (26-1, 22 KOs) volunteered to step in and take the fight with Gervonta last Saturday night. The 32-yer-old Prograis would come down to 135 to challenge Tank for his WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title.
The problem with using Prograis is that he’s a riskier fight for Tank, and they would need to negotiate the match with him quickly. Because Prograis is well known and considered by many boxing fans as the #2 guy at 140, he’ll want an excellent deal to fight Tank.
If Mayweather Promotions are looking to protect their investment by keeping Gervonta out of harm’s way, they’ll balk at the idea of using Prograis as the replacement for Rolly, and that’s too much of an upgrade.
We just saw Tank in desperate straits in his fight with Mario Barrios last June, needing Floyd to give him a ‘Win one for the old Gipper’ speech in between the 7th and 8th round to help him rally to get the victory.
If Tank can’t even beat a fighter like Barrios without Mayweather needing to inspire him like the late Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne with his Gipper speech, he wouldn’t have a prayer against a talent like Prograis.
Cruz beat Fernando ‘El Bandito’ Vargas
‘Pitbull’ Cruz is coming off a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision win over 36-year-old former WBC super featherweight champion Fernando ‘El Bandito’ Vargas on June 19th. Vargas was one of the top 130-pounders from 2013 to 2017.
It wasn’t until Fernando ran into Miguel Berchelt in 2017 that his career went downhill. For ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to dominate Vargas the way he did, shows that he’s got a lot of talent.
With that said, Cruz is not on the same level as Tank Davis, and he’s going to get chewed up by him. That’s probably the main idea for why he would be picked by Mayweather Promotions to replace Rolly.
They don’t want Gervonta to lose, and if they put him in with the wrong guy like Prograis, that could happen.
Other excellent options for Tank:
- Gary Russell Jr
- Devin Haney
- Robert Easter Jr
“Sources: Isaac Cruz is the frontrunner to replace Romero. He was strongly considered for the Davis assignment before Romero ultimately was chosen for the bout. Showtime, which is slated to televise Davis-Romero on PPV, declined comment on the situation,” said @MikeCoppinger.
“Rolando Romero is on the verge of being pulled from a Dec. 5 fight with Gervonta Davis; sources told ESPN. Romero was accused of sexual assault. The Henderson Police Department confirmed Romero is involved in an open investigation.”