By Allan Fox: Errol Spence Jr says he’d like to match his fighter lightweight contender Frank Martin against former world title challenger Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for his next fight.
Whether Cruz would agree to the fight with Martin is unknown because it’s believed that the Mexican fighter is playing it safe, waiting for a lucrative rematch against WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis after losing to him last year by a narrow 12 round unanimous decision in December 2021 in Los Angeles.
Pitbull’s power, pressure, and offensive talent would make him a serious threat to Martin. If that match-up happens next, Martin will know that he’s in a fight.
The 5’8″ southpaw Martin would enjoy a four-inch height and four-and-a-half-inch reach advantage over the 24-year-old Pitbull Cruz. The youth and punching power would go to Cruz, though, as Martin has Devin Haney-like power.
Spence, who promotes the 27-year-old unbeaten Martin (17-0, 12 KOs), believes that Pitbull Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) would bring out the best in his fighter, making him let his hands go more.
Martin defeated Michel Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in the WBA 140-lb title eliminator at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
After the fight, Spence gloated about the victory, saying that Martin’s training camp was more challenging than the fight against the 24-year-old Rivera.
The lopsided scores handed down by the judges suggest that Spence is correct, as they gave it to Martin 120-107, 117-110, and 118-109. Rivera was down in the seventh round and was never in the fight.
“Him and Pitbull would be a good fight,” said Errol Spence Jr to ESNEWS about his wanting to match Frank Martin against Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for his next fight.
“He’s [Pitbull Cruz] is going to engage, so that’ll make Frank let his hands go a lot more. He actually do better against people that engage.
“There are billions of people that are as talented as Frank that didn’t make it. It’s on him. He’s got to be smart, stay focused, and don’t get distracted. He’s going to go as far as he wants to.
“He put on an amazing show. I think the training camp was harder than the fight,” said Spence about Martin’s camp being tougher than his bout with Michel Rivera. “That was easy. Training camp was harder than the fight.
“He was super sharp. A lot of people didn’t want to fight him. He put on a great show. I don’t think Devin will fight him right now,” said Spence when asked about whether he’d be interested in matching Martin against undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney next.
“It would definitely be a great fight. I don’t know how entertaining it would be, but it would be a great fight,” said Spence.
