Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) accomplished his mission to “terminate” Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero (15-2, 13 KOs), ripping WBA light welterweight title away from him by an eighth round technical knockout on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Rolly landed a lot of good shots, but had no effect on ‘Pitbull’ Cruz, who just kept attacking him relentlessly, hitting him whenever he could get near enough to land.
Early Warning
The pressure from Cruz seemed to unnerve Romero, who began falling apart physically and mentally by the fourth round. At that point, Romero was just trying to keep from getting knocked out, and he was no longer in the fight.
“I fought with the intention to leave the decision out of the judge’s hands,” said Cruz. “Mission accomplished.”
In the first round, Pitbull connected with a left hand that shook Rolly to his boots. That was a letter of intent by Cruz, and it put Rolly on notice of what was going to come for him in the fight.
Rolly lost a point when he was penalized for holding in the fifth round. He’d been doing a lot of holding the entire fight, but finally the referee had seen enough and took a point away.
Like in his last fight, Rolly used movement to keep out of range of Cruz, but he grew fatigued as the rounds wore on. Romero didn’t have the conditioning for this contest as he did in his previous fight against Ismael Barroso, which could be a product of Rolly enjoying his victory a little too much and not getting back in the ring.
Cruz Steals the Show
The performance by the 25-year-old Cruz stole the show from the main event fight between WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu and Sebastian Fundora, which had less drama, but an unexpected result.
“I’m very happy and humbled to win this title for my family and for Mexico,” said Cruz. “I was prepared for this. I wasn’t here to just fight.
“I was here to terminate him…I did my talking right here in the ring. And I did this not just for me, but for everybody that is here at T-Mobile Arena. There’s going to be a Mexican champ at 140 pounds for a long time.”
