Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz gave Nestor Bravo six rounds of punishment before ending the fight with a clean left hook Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Bravo dropped onto his backside and made little effort to beat the count.
Cruz (29-3-2, 19 KOs) retained his WBC interim light welterweight title, but calling this a title fight almost flatters what took place. Bravo (24-2, 17 KOs) spent more time grabbing, wrestling and fouling than trying to win.
The trouble began immediately. Cruz hurt Bravo with a hook in the first round and dropped him as the Puerto Rican challenger tried to clinch. Bravo reached the bell, but his legs and his confidence already looked gone.
Round two brought another knockdown and the first penalty. Referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Bravo for excessive holding after several warnings. Taylor also made it clear that continued fouling would bring a disqualification.
Bravo then landed multiple low blows in the third. Taylor stopped the action but did not remove another point. Whenever the pair actually boxed, Cruz landed the harder punches and forced Bravo back into survival mode.
The second deduction arrived in round four after Bravo threw Cruz onto the canvas. Taylor warned him that a disqualification would cost him his purse. That threat did little to improve the fight because Bravo had no legal answer for Cruz’s pressure.
Cruz controlled the fifth without scoring another knockdown. He no longer needed to force the finish because Bravo was steadily breaking down and offering almost nothing in return.
The left hook finally ended it in the sixth. Cruz stepped forward, caught Bravo cleanly on the chin and watched him accept the count from the canvas.
This was the dominant performance Cruz needed after Ryan Garcia listed him among his preferred opponents. Cruz was supposed to dispose of Bravo, and he did exactly that. The two knockdowns, two point deductions and final knockout made the scorecards irrelevant long before the ending.
