By Dan Ambrose: Ryan Garcia and Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz have been ordered by the WBC to begin negotiations for a lightweight title eliminator to determine a mandatory for Devin Haney.
The unbeaten #2 WBC Ryan (22-0, 18 KOs and#4 ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (23-2-1, 16 KOs) have until June 14th to negotiate a deal before a purse bid.
WBC lightweight champion Haney (27-0, 15 KOs) is fighting four-belt unified champion George Kambosos Jr. on June 5th in Australia. The winner of the Garcia vs. Cruz fight will face the winner of the Kambosos-Haney fight.
It might not be a big deal that the World Boxing Council has ordered Garcia and Cruz to fight, as it’s believed that they already are in talks for a fight in July.
Of course, if Ryan and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions have other ideas to face someone else, they can always decline the WBC’s order for the Cruz fight.
The WBC has already ordered Ryan three times for title eliminators against Luke Campbell, Javier Fortuna, and Joseph ‘Jojo’ Diaz.
The only one of the three that the 23-year-old Ryan faced was Campbell, who he stopped in the seventh round last year on June 2nd in Dallas, Texas.
Pitbull Cruz’s recent fights
Yuriorkis Gamboa – TKO 5
Gervonta Davis – UD 12 loss
Francisco Vargas – UD 10 win
Jose Matias Romero – UD 12
Diego Magdaleno – TKO 1
Thomas Mattice – MD 10
Busy day at @WBCBoxing as we have ordered the following fights:@RyanGarcia Vs @IsaacPitbull98
O’shaquie Foster Vs Eduardo Ramirez
Noel Mikaelian Vs Thabiso Mchunu
Jason Moloney vs Nawapon Sor Rungvisai ( if he wins in June )— Mauricio Sulaiman (@wbcmoro) May 10, 2022
Ryan said last week that the idea is for him to fight the winner of the Kambosos Jr. vs. Haney fight later this year. Of course, there’s also the possibility of Ryan battling the winner of the May 28th fight between WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero.
If the idea is for Ryan to make the most money, a fight with Tank is the way to go.
However, if King Ry can defeat the Kambosos vs. Haney winner to become the undisputed champion at lightweight, a fight between him and Tank Davis would bring in more money, a lot more.
It’s a risky move, though, because Ryan didn’t look impressive in his return fight on April 9th against Emmanuel Tagoe.
Although Ryan defeated the little-known 33-year-old fringe contender Tagoe (32-2, 15 KOs), he looked unskilled, wild & timid throughout the fight.
Ryan was missing many punches and appeared to be afraid to stay in the pocket despite Tagoe having very little punching power. What was troubling was how Tagoe pressured Ryan in the second half of the fight, backing him up constantly.
That shouldn’t have been happening because Tagoe was the weaker puncher of the two, but Ryan looked scared.
The way that Ryan fought against Tagoe, his chances of beating Pitbull Cruz are slim & none.
