Isaac Cruz rose to the occasion in his last fight, which happened to come on the biggest stage of his career.
A 53-second knockout of Diego Magdaleno immediately catapulted Mexico City’s Cruz into the title picture. It didn’t at all hurt his profile that the win came on a Showtime Pay-Per-View card headlined by rising superstar Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who scored a highlight reel knockout of his own in flattening Leo Santa Cruz inside of six rounds last October.
Cruz (20-1-1, 15KOs) returns to the ring this Saturday, facing Argentina’s Matias Romero (24-0, 8KOs) in a scheduled 12-round title eliminator live on Showtime from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasvillle, Connecticut. Expectations are for the squat Mexican contender to deliver another explosive performance. What he plans to deliver is simply the best that he has to offer, however it translates on the screen.
“I do not feel pressure following a big knockout,” Cruz stated during the final pre-fight press conference ahead of Saturday’s televised tripleheader. “I am always prepared to finish fights. That is why I train as hard as I do and prepare myself like I do.
Cruz has shown his ability to box as well as trade, as evidenced in a 10-round majority decision win over Thomas Mattice in a previous Showtime-televised appearance. Over the course of his last nine starts, Cruz—who is part of Eddy Reynoso’s ‘No Boxing, No Life’ camp and is managed by Sean ‘VIVA’ Gibbons—has either ended the night in three round or less or forced to go to the scorecards.
Still, the early power surge comes from his supreme confidence in ending a fight with a single shot. With that staying power, also comes the assurance that he has something to fall back on for those occasions where his opponent is able to extend the fight into the later rounds.
“We prepare for fights to go the distance and for me to knock out my opponent,” insists Cruz. “If the knockout is there, I will take it, but we prepare ourselves for anything to happen, and I am always ready.
“I always like to come forward because it allows me to change to something else. You never know when your boxing skills will have to take over. I like to keep my opponents guessing.”
The lightweight bout serves as the chief support to another title eliminator in the main event, with former two-time super middleweight titlist David Benavidez (23-0, 20KOs) facing Ronald Ellis (18-1-2, 12KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox