Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz – live results

By Boxing News - 12/05/2021 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: WBA lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) retained his title with a close 12 round unanimous decision victory over replacement opponent Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) on Sunday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The scores were as follows: 116-112, 115, 113, and 115-113. Boxing News 24 had ‘Pitbull’ Cruz edging it by a 115-113 score.  A rematch would be nice to see because it was a close and controversial enough outcome to call for one.

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Tank looked fatigued in the later rounds from the body shots and face pace that the younger 23-year-old Cruz set. Also, Tank may have suffered a hand injury.

Unfortunately for Tank, this wasn’t one of his more impressive performances, as he was outworked and forced to hold, shove and use the illegal straight arm tactic to keep the 5’4″ Cruz on the outside.

The straight arms that Tank was using should have been addressed by the referee, but he was using a laissez-faire approach to controlling that illegal tactic.

Boxing News 24 will be giving LIVE undercard results below:

  • Sebastian Fundora (18-0-1, 12 KOs) defeated previously unbeaten Carlos Garcia (33-1, 14 KOs) by a surprisingly wide 12 round unanimous decision in a WBC junior middleweight title eliminator. The judges’ scores were 115-113, 118-110, and 117-111. Garcia looked like the better fighter of the two, hurting the 6’5 1/2″ ‘Towering Inferno Fundora several times in the fight, but the outcome wasn’t unexpected. Fundora was the A-side, putting Garcia in a tough position to try and earn a decision. With the win, Fundora is now the mandatory for WBC champion Jermell Charlo. He’ll need to fight a lot better than he did tonight to defeat Charlo, who is an explosive puncher.
  • Middleweight contender Carlos Adames (21-1, 16 KOs) battled hard to edge Sergiy ‘The Technician’ Derevyanchenko (13-4, 10 KOs) by a 10 round majority decision. The scores were 97-93, 96-94 Adames, and 95-95. Boxing News 24 had the 36-year-old Derevyanchenko winning the fight 96-94. Derevyanchenko appeared to take over the fight from the fourth round on, hurting Adames repeatedly with heavy shots to the head. In the second half of the fight, Adames, 27, looked tired and clearly was feeling the face pace that Derevyanchenko was setting. All in all, it was an excellent fight and easily the most entertaining on the card thus far. The scoring, however, was troubling because it looked like the judges gave it to the wrong man. Moreover, the 97-93 score for Adames was shockingly bad, making it difficult to understand how the judges derived to come with that outcome. The loss for Derevyanchenko is his third consecutive and fourth in his last five fights. Granted, Derevyanchenko’s promoters have done him no favors with their tough match-making, putting him in this murderer’s row since 2018: Daniel Jacobs, Gennadiy Golovkin, and Jermall Charlo. Derevyanchenko arguably deserves wins against GGG, Jacobs, and, of course, Adames. A change of scenery might be a good idea for Derevyanchenko, as he’s getting the short end of the stick with the scoring of his fights in the U.S.
  • Super featherweight contender Eduardo Ramirez (26-2-3, 12 KOs) outworked former three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga (30-5, 26 KOs) in winning a grueling 10 round unanimous decision. Marriaga was knocked down by a left hand from Ramirez in the third, and he continued to take heavy punishment in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Ramirez, 28, threw a massive number of shots to try and slow the powerful Colombian Marriaga down, but he stayed in there until the bitter end, winning hard shots with knockout intentions. The judges’ scores were 99-90, 99-90, and 99-90. Boxing News 24 had the same 99-90 score. Marriaga, 35, landed a lot of heavy shots, but the work rate from Ramirez was too much in the end. Marriaga has an incredibly entertaining style, and he made this fight exciting the entire time. The loss for Marriaga was his second in his last three fights.
  • Heavyweight prospect Carlos Garcon (2-0-1, 2 KOs) battled Jason Soto (3-1-2, 3 KOs) to a four round draw. This was a seesaw battle with both guys unloading heavy shots and quickly becoming arm-weary from their efforts to score an early knockout. The scores were 39-37 Soto, 39-37 Garcon, and 38-38. Despite the disappointing ending results, it was a fun fight.
  • In a surprise, middleweight contender Luis Arias (20-2-1, 9 KOs) was beaten by Vaughn Alexander (16-6-1, 9 KOs) by a 10 round split decision. The scores were 96-93 for Arias, 96-93, and 96-93 for Alexander. Arias was penalized a point for shouldering in the fifth round. The 31-year-old Arias has been up and down with his career, losing to Danny Jacobs and Luke Keeler before coming back recently to defeat former junior middleweight champion Jarrett Hurd by a 10 round split decision last June.
  • Female flyweight Ava Knight (20-2-5, 5 KOs) defeated Nancy Franco De Alba (19-16-2, 5 KOs) by a six round unanimous decision. The scores were 59-55, 60-54, and 59-55.
  • Mia Ellis (3-0, 2 KOs) defeated Elizabeth Tuani (1-4, 1 KOs) by a four round unanimous decision in a women’s super featherweight fight. The scores were 39-37, 39-37, and 39-37.

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In a battle of unbeaten junior middleweights, 6’5 1/2″ Sebastian Fundora (17-0-1, 12 KOs) will be battling Spain’s Sergio Garcia (33-0, 14 KOs) in a WBC 154-lb title eliminator in the chief support bout on the card.

Former three-time middleweight title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs) will be trying to snap a two-fight losing streak when he takes on Carlos Adames (20-1, 16 KOs) in a 10 round fight.

Super featherweight Eduardo Ramirez (25-2-3, 12 KOs) will be fighting the 35-year-old former three-time world title challenger Miguel Marriaga (30-4, 26 KOs) in a 10 round fight in the opening of the PPV portion of the card.

“I know he’s not coming to lay down. He’s coming to put up a good fight,” said Tank Davis about Isaac Cruz. “That’s what I’m looking forward to, and that’s what the fans want, so I’m all for it.

“This is something new to be on this stage fighting somebody smaller than me. I can’t really say until I get in there and see his punching power and see his speed.

“I’m not going to go out there and try and gun him out of there in the first round. I got to see what he brings to the table, and then I can match his energy.

Tank & Cruz = mirror images of each other

“These are two guys that are hungry,” said Showtime president Stephen Espinoza to Fight Hub TV on tonight’s Davis vs. Pitbull Cruz fight. “Tank has got a lot, he’s achieved a good amount, but he’s still hungry.

“Isaac, this is the opportunity for a lifetime,” Espinoza continued on Pitbull Cruz on the verge of changing his life. “This is life-changing. You saw how his family lived. They lived humbly.

“This is sort of like Rocky Balboa. You get your call four weeks out from the fight. This is I think this is the opportunity for a lifetime, and it couldn’t have come at a better point.

“These two guys [Gervonta and Isaac Cruz] are kind of mirror images of each other. They’re very similar, so I think this is going to go rounds. Look, a hungry fighter is a dangerous fighter. We saw that last week with [George] Kambosos – Teofimo Lopez.

“We’ve since learned that Teofimo had some health issues. In a rematch too, I’m sure he would like to see how it would go at full strength. What you saw there was a Kamboso that was focused and really hungry.

Isaac Cruz with NOTHING to lose

“That part of the business,” said trainer Calvin Ford on Tank Davis pushing Isaac Cruz during the weigh-in. “My little man [Gervonta] don’t get down like that.

“He has nothing to lose,” said Ford on Pitbull Cruz having nothing to lose against Tank Davis. “This fight should have been named ‘Nothing to lose.’

“I don’t like knockouts. I like punishment. That just lets everybody know that’s what kind of fight it’s going to be,” said Ford on whether the push that Tank did is going to be the kind of fight that it’s going to be.

“Tank doesn’t like nobody touching him. I don’t like nobody touching him. He knows that. I know we got a good official. He worked with us in Atlanta. He’s going to make sure he can do what they’re supposed to do.

“It’s will against will, but Tank has got that skill too. He got to pay the bills. Tank is that star,” said Ford about the interest in Gervonta’s fight with Cruz despite him being a replacement for Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.

“His attitude is professional. I’m just saying a young man is coming into a man. He [Tank Davis] understands what he’s got to do to become that superstar status. He walks down the street and the world knows who you are.

“Tank, you got to get to know him to understand him. What I see he’s got a good heart and he tries to bring people together to make it right. All I’m asking is everybody watch this fight,” said Hunter on the Tank Davis vs. Isaac Cruz fight.

Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (25-0, 24 KOs) will be making his long-awaited first defense of his WBA lightweight title tonight against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs) on SHOWTIME pay-per-view at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The fight action kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET