By Allan Fox: Promoter Floyd Mayweather Jr. was furious last Sunday night in the aftermath of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis’ closer than expected 12 round unanimous decision win over substitute opponent Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
After the fight, Mayweather appeared to be trying to singlehandedly talk the fans and the media into believing that Tank had looked great.
That approach was doomed for failure because people witnessed what happened inside the ring with Pitbull Cruz exposing Tank Davis, and they weren’t going to buy Mayweather’s own fantasyland spin.
Fans and the media, naturally, weren’t impressed with what they saw from Tank, as he was outworked by the younger 23-year-old Pitbull Cruz, and hurt in the later rounds from the body and headshots that the Mexican warrior was hitting him with.
In the end, Tank won a narrow 12 round decision by the scores 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112, but he was forced to use arguably illegal tactics to get the victory.
Pitbull Cruz looked like the better fighter
Using the illegal straight arm to keep Pitbull Cruz from getting close to him, Tank was able to win crucial rounds that likely would have lost had the referee done his job by warning or penalizing him for this illegal tactic. To his credit, Pitbull Cruz didn’t get in the mud with Tank Davis and use illegal tactics of his own to try and win. Cruz kept it clean.
Mayweather seemed angry and in full denial about what had transpired inside the ring, as his #1 fighter in his Mayweather Promotions stable Tank Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) was exposed by Pitbull Cruz, who battered and hurt his star.
With his blue-collar approach to fight, Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs) brought Tank Davis down to earth, showing that he’s not as good as some boxing fans, members of the media, and particularly Mayweather have said he is.
Mayweather says Tank “EASILY” beat Pitbull Cruz
“We all know Tank boxed circles around that guy,” said Mayweather at the post-fight press conference last Sunday night after Gervonta’s narrow win over challenger Pitbull Cruz.
“The guy [Cruz] was very aggressive and landed some big shots. It’s all about exciting fights. He clearly got beat, he knows he didn’t win. It was an easy fight from what I seen,” said Mayweather in building his narrative of what took place in Tank’s narrow win over the younger, busier Pitbull Cruz.
“It was four rounds that the guy [Cruz] could have got, but eight rounds he was getting outboxed. The name of the game is BOXING. It’s not slugging
“They wanted ‘Tank’ to knock this guy out. Since he didn’t get the knockout tonight, now he lost. It’s bulls—,” said Mayweather in putting his own spin on why the media and fans were disappointed in Gervonta’s performance.
It’s too bad Mayweather didn’t want to admit that his fighter Tank hadn’t looked good against Isaac Cruz. Mayweather sounded in deep denial in trying to make sense of what had happened to Tank.
Floyd claims Gervonta SMOKED Isaac Cruz
“The name of the game is to NOT take punishment,” Mayweather continued, sounding like an apologist for Gervonta after his poor effort. “The guy knows he didn’t win.
“Was he tough? Very tough and rugged. If I had fought him in my peak, I probably wouldn’t have knocked the guy out.
“The guy [Pitbull Cruz] was tough. He brought the smoke but he got smoked also,” said an angry-sounding Mayweather in trying to understand why fans and the media say Tank Davis looked poor against Cruz.
Mayweather should have quit while he was ahead by trying to convince the fans and media that Tank had easily beaten Pitbull Cruz last Sunday night
. The way Mayweather was talking, he sound desperate to change the reality of what had happened. Unfortunately, Mayweather couldn’t wish it or speak it away.
His fighter Tank was exposed by his replacement opponent, and the only reason he won is that he used tactics that should have resulted in him being penalized repeatedly by the referee had he been on his job.
