Notebook: 'Pitbull' Cruz takes lessons from Davis loss into Saturday's fight with Gamboa
Whyte finally acknowledges Fury bout; Andy Ruiz return set; Fundora tips hat to Lubin; Triller loses IBF appeal; FFU podcast; Mizzone makes move; Quick hits; Show and tell
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Lightweight contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz may have lost a close decision challenging Gervonta “Tank” Davis for his secondary lightweight belt in his last fight in December, but he walked away with legions of fans believing he should have had his hand raised in victory.
So, while the loss stung, Cruz proved he could compete with the best and moved from relative anonymity to a known commodity in one of boxing’s deepest divisions.
Cruz chalked up the loss to Davis as a learning experience as he prepares to move on with his career, which will be in a 10-rounder against former unified featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa in the co-feature of the Errol Spence Jr.-Yordenis Ugas three-belt welterweight title unification fight on Saturday (Showtime PPV and PPV.com, 9 p.m. ET, $74.99) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“I learned a valuable lesson from the Davis fight,” Cruz said on a recent call with boxing media to discuss the upcoming bout. “I learned that I need to be focused inside the fight at every moment. I’m going to show people that I’m the Mexican fighter that can rule the 135-pound division.”
If Cruz has one regret about the fight with Davis it is that he eased up on pressuring him a bit.
“I wish I had pressured more against Gervonta Davis. If I had knocked him down I think it would have been a different story and it would have been me with my hand raised,” Cruz said. “Everything that happened in the Davis fight has made me better. My profile is definitely raised, but it has not gone to my head. I’m only focused on giving the fans the show that they crave and I know that I’m capable of giving them that.”
He would have liked a rematch with Davis and there was also chatter about a possible Ryan Garcia fight that went nowhere. Instead he will face Gamboa, a onetime phenom past his prime but still game despite two losses in a row.
“I respect Gamboa and I thank him for the opportunity of getting to fight him. His resume is beyond reproach. However, I’m not here to lay down for anyone. I’m here to show that I’m one of the top fighters in the division.
“My fists are going to speak inside of the ring. It’s not for me to say whether one punch can change the fight or not, we’re going to see what happens inside the ring on fight night.”
A win would certainly keep Cruz on the path to a bigger fight in a division that boasts several top fighters, including unified champion George Kambosos, WBC titlist Devin Haney, Davis, Garcia, Vasiliy Lomachenko and others.
“I’m ready for however long it takes me to get this win, one round or all 12. I’m going to prove to all the top lightweights that I’m ready to fight any of them,” Cruz said. “If those fighters want to prove that they belong on the top level, then they have to fight me.”
Gamboa (30-4, 18 KOs), 40, a Cuban defector fighting out of Miami, has confidence he can handle Cruz (22-2-1, 15 KOs), 23, of Mexico, despite back-to-back losses to Davis (12th-round knockout) and WBC titlist Haney (decision).
“I definitely have the edge in experience but at the same time, I’m going to rely on my preparation,” Gamboa said. “I’m going to rely on the game plan and the strategy that we have put together to be able to fight and win any way we can.
“I’m going to show everybody that’s watching on TV and that’s watching in the stands that Yuriorkis Gamboa is still here to stay and that Yuriorkis Gamboa can still be the best in the division. There’s definitely a lot of people that are overlooking what I still have left in the tank and the quality of fighter that I still am.”
Gamboa is also jockeying for a rematch with Davis.
“When I beat Isaac Cruz, I want the rematch with Gervonta Davis,” he said. “I fought with a torn Achilles for 11 rounds but I was still able to withstand everything and get (almost) to the finish. I need another bite at the apple and I need to show that I have the quality to beat him. I need to fight him while I’m healthy and 100 percent, because that fight will be totally different.”
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Dillian Whyte surfaces
Less than two weeks before Dillian Whyte is scheduled to challenged Tyson Fury for the heavyweight championship on April 23 (ESPN PPV) at London’s Wembley Stadium, where a sold-out crowd of about 94,000 is expected, he finally broke his silence and acknowledged he is indeed fighting.
“I’m ready,” Whyte posted to his social media Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on the 23rd of April. #LetsGooo!”
That has been his only public comment from the typically outspoken Whyte since Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, the co-promoter of Fury with Top Rank, set the all-time purse bid record of $41,025,000 at a WBC purse bid on Jan. 28 to win promotional rights to the bout by beating the second-highest purse bid ever of $32,222,222 submitted by Matchroom Boxing, Whyte’s longtime promoter.
Whyte, who turned 34 on Monday, is upset he is only getting 20 percent of the purse bid, which is less than a mandatory challenger and interim titlist would normally receive in a WBC purse bid.
So, although Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) signed a contract for the fight, he has refused to do any promotional activities and did not show up at the kickoff news conference, where Fury (30-0-1, 22 KOs), 34, his British countryman, had the spotlight to himself.
Perhaps Whyte’s reluctance to involve himself in the promotion has changed because soon after posting his social media comment Top Rank distributed an alert to boxing media saying that Fury and Whyte would both be available on a conference call to discuss the fight on Thursday.
Andy Ruiz returns
Former unified heavyweight titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. will face Tyrone Spong in the 10-round main event of a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view card on July 16 (FITE) at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, Triller announced on Wednesday.
Ruiz (34-2, 22 KOs), 32, of Imperial, California, shocked the world with a seventh-round knockout of Anthony Joshua as a late replacement to win the unified titles and become the first heavyweight titlist of Mexican decent in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history in June 2019 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
But six months later, an unfocused and completely out of shape lost a one-sided decision to Joshua in the rematch in December 2019 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Ruiz has fought just once since, an all-action decision over former title challenger Chris Arreola, who knocked Ruiz down in the second round, in May 2021 in Carson, California.
Spong (14-0, 13 KOs), 36, a native of the South American country Surinam, who fights out of Miami, is more known for a long kickboxing career before turning to boxing in 2015.
He has not boxed since August 2019. In October 2019, Spong was scheduled to face Oleksandr Usyk, who was making his heavyweight debut after vacating the undisputed cruiserweight title. However, Spong tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene, was dropped from the fight and replaced by Chazz Witherspoon.
Fundora respects Lubin
Junior middleweight Sebastian Fundora has ample respect for Erickson Lubin following their dramatic fight of the year candidate on Saturday night at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
“That was a very tough fight. I loved it,” Fundora said Tuesday. “I want to let Erickson Lubin know I respect his heart and toughness very much. I went into the fight thinking Lubin’s chin was suspect, but he took everything I could throw at him and still kept coming. I give him major respect and I hope he heals up quickly. He’s a very brave fighter. Get well soon and let’s do it again!”
The 6-foot-5 Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs) dropped Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs) with a vicious uppercut in the second round and then survived a seventh-round knockdown of an extremely close and action-packed fight that headlined a Showtime card. Ultimately, Lubin’s face was becoming disfigured due to a broken nose and his trainer, Kevin Cunningham, stopped the bout after the ninth round to give Fundora the vacant WBC interim 154-pound title.
“I’m very happy we were able to get the win. We needed to win to get into the bigger fights,” said Freddy Fundora, Sebastian’s father and trainer. “That was a terrific fight between two future champions. Neither fighter has anything to be ashamed of. They are both true warriors.”
Sampson Lewkowicz, Fundora’s promoter, was also happy to see his fighter overcome adversity to score his biggest victory.
“A star is born. ‘The Towering Inferno’ is going straight to the top,” Lewkowicz said. “The fans love how he fights. He doesn’t back down ever. And everybody likes Sebastian away from the ring. Such a nice family. But inside the ring, Sebastian Fundora can’t be beaten at 154 pounds. My hat is off to Erickson Lubin, but Sebastian Fundora is going to clean out the division.”
Triller takes KO loss
An appeals panel on Tuesday handed Triller a loss in its effort to recoup the more than $1.2 million it deposited with the IBF after winning a purse bid for the mandatory fight between then-unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos Jr.
Triller spent months trying to schedule the fight. It placed it on a variety of dates in various locations but could never get the fight set and missed various deadlines. When Kambosos’ team pressed the issue the IBF ultimately found Triller in default of its purse bid win.
After Triller shockingly won the Feb. 25, 2021, purse bid for a whopping $6.018 million, it put up the required 20 percent of the money as a deposit over the course of two payments, as required by IBF rules.
That amounted to $1,203,600, which has been with the IBF since a few weeks after the purse bid was held. That money will now go to the fighters. Read my story on Big Fight Weekend for all the details: https://bigfightweekend.com/news/ibf-denies-triller-default-appeal-for-kambosos-lopez-bout/
Fight Freaks Unite podcast
Big Fights Weekend chief TJ Rives and I discussed this past weekend’s fights. I gave my take on Gennadiy Golovkin’s knockout win over Ryota Murata to unify to middleweight titles; Sebastian Fundora’s knockout of Erickson Lubin in their dramatic fight of the year contender; and Ryan Garcia’s return from a 15-month layoff to drop and dominated Emmanuel Tagoe in a one-sided decision win. Please give it a listen here:
Mizzone: Matchmaker now manager
Jolene Mizzone, long one of boxing’s top matchmakers, announced she has left her role as president of boxing operations of promoter Main Events to begin working as a manager with new company Fighters First Management.
“I want to educate fighters as much as possible on the business aspects of boxing,” said Mizzone, who has worked with fighters such as Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Sergey Kovalev and Tomasz Adamek during her time at Main Events. “I plan to work hand in hand with our fighters and their teams. As their manager, I'm also an educator. I can give them the tools they need to make smarter long-term decisions about their careers so they can flourish and live well after giving their all to the sport we love.
“I bring something to the table no other manager brings to boxing today. Being a former promoter and matchmaker, I understand the secret language of matchups and deals. Most of this is kept from the fighters, not always in a malicious way, but never to their long-term benefit. This changes today with Fighters First Management."
Mizzone said she is talking to various fighters about management deals and said she would start announcing signings by this summer.
“The kind of fighters we are looking for are all different types, young up and coming boxers or boxers who may already be established looking for guidance,” Mizzone said. “One thing I know I can do is move a fighter to a championship bout, as long as they keep winning and listening to advice.”
Fighters First Management is owned by Georgia-based entrepreneur David Basha, owner of Carriage Auto Group in the southeastern U.S.
“Boxing has been a passion of mine for the past 40 years. I have always desired to have a company that represented boxers and protected them in business,” Basha said. “To do that, I knew I would need the perfect person to lead the charge, and Jolene is that perfect person.”
Quick hits
The WBA scheduled a purse bid for a fight between undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs), 31, of Scotland, and mandatory challenger Alberto Puello (20-0, 10 KOs), 27, of the Dominican Republic, for 10 a.m. on April 22 via video conference. Minimum bid is $200,000. The split will be 55 percent to Taylor and 45 percent to Puello, who held the interim belt before the WBA terminated all interim titles and made the holders mandatory challengers last summer. Although the purse bid is scheduled it’s unlikely the fight will happen. Taylor more likely will either move up to welterweight or vacate the WBA belt rather than face an obscure challenger ticketed for such a large chunk of the pie.
The three-belt bantamweight unification fight between Naoya Inoue and Nonito Donaire on June 7 (a Tuesday) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan will stream on ESPN+ — not the regular network as Top Rank previously indicated — ESPN announced on Saturday during the Mikaela Mayer-Jennifer Han broadcast. The stream is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. ET. The fight is a much-anticipated rematch of the 2019 fight of the year that Inoue (22-0, 19 KOs) won to unify belts, after which Donaire (42-6, 28 KOs) eventually won another title.
The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 will be honored on May 1 at the 10th induction dinner at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York. Among the living boxers being inducted are former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs, former WBO heavyweight titleholder Michael Bentt, former junior middleweight titlist Verno Phillips and former light heavyweight titlist Donny Lalonde. Among the living non-participants being induced are judge Ron McNair, promoter/matchmaker Don Elbaum, journalist Ed Schuyler, author/ journalist Tom Hauser and WBC executive Jill Diamond.
The World Cup Boxing Series promotion announced it has signed a multi-fight deal beIN Sports for its monthly events to be featured on the network’s English and Spanish-language streaming and over-the-air channels beginning with a live event on June 3 in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico. BeIN Sports has not done regular boxing since its deal with Zanfer Promotions ended a few years ago.
The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced that promoter, manager, trainer and restaurateur Tony Graziano, who recently turned 100 and is from Canastota, New York, site of the Hall of Fame, has been named Grand Marshal of the 2022 Parade of Champions, the annual parade through town that precedes the induction ceremonies. This year’s inductions are on June 12.
Show and tell
From the late 1970s to the mid-1980, Mexico’s Lupe Pintor was one of boxing’s most exciting fighters. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016, having won WBC world titles at bantamweight (via split decision over fellow Hall of Famer Carlos Zarate in 1979 followed by eight successful defenses) and junior featherweight (via decision over Juan Meza in 1985). Before beating Meza, Pintor unsuccessfully challenged Hall of Famer Wilfredo Gomez for the WBC junior featherweight crown and was stopped in the 14th round of an all-time classic battle. On Wednesday, Pintor turned 67.
Here are his rookie cards in my collection. They are from a sheet of stickers (on nice stock and slightly larger than a traditional card) inserted in the December 1981 issue of Gong, a Japanese boxing and wrestling magazine that included a sheet of stickers in monthly issues from September 1981 to January 1982 and included rookie cards or very early cards of Thomas Hearns, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pipino Cuevas and Larry Holmes.
Cruz and Ruiz photos: Sean Michael Ham/TGB Promotions; Fundora-Lubin photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC
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Good stuff, Dan. Enjoyed the newsletter and the BFW pod.
A few thoughts:
- though it’s hard to care a ton about Andy Ruiz not fighting Luis Ortiz as has been rumored, since it would have been some stupidly priced PPV I likely would have skipped anyway, fighting Sponge on Triller is surprising and a step further from relevance for Ruiz. Just a ‘who cares’ fight.
- BTW, Dan- does this day anything about Ruiz’s relationship with PBC going forward?
- re: Triller’s IBF loss: hahahaha! Great end to that fiasco of a business decision from the jump by Triller. Idiots.
- I disagree with you about the justification of the “interim” title in the Fondura-Lubin fight; years ago it would have been a final eliminator that would have been enforced; now they give them a belt to defend while they drag their feet making the title fight. I guarantee Fondura will defend that belt before he fights the winner of Charlo-Castano, and that’s nonsense.
- love the Lupe Pintor show & tell! We are fight freaks here, and would love to see more of your collection of some of the great fighters that weren’t quite superstars. Show me some Orlando Canizales and Kennedy McKinney and Wayne McCullough and Simon Brown stuff… guys like that.
roll on Fury vs Whyte