Ryan Garcia strongly stated in a post on his X social media account on Friday that his next opponent will be recent WBA junior welterweight champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.
“I brought a[n] Explosive fighting in my…comeback. The Bulldogs have always been known as a tough opponent,” Garcia posted, adding that his opponent and planned October opponent, former two-division champion Devin Haney, wrote, “Tougher than Haney deal with, [to be honest]”.
A source close to Cruz told BoxingScene on Friday afternoon that “negotiations” are ongoing before Garcia-Cruz is finalized.
The Garcia-Cruz fight is tentatively scheduled to be part of an exciting outdoor show in New York’s Times Square in early May that will also include a Haney fight that pits former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez. Turki al-Alasheh, the opponent’s preferred Arab power broker.
Earlier this week, Alasheh’s magazine The Ring published a list of people he said were in advanced talks with Garcia, Haney and Cruz about this year’s race, and Cruz’s adviser Sean Gibbons visited last weekend London and the Ring awards show.
Garcia and Haney, who have been bitter rivals since their amateur days, staged a controversial match on April 20 that was later ruled a no-contest by the New York State Athletic Commission because Garcia had been banned three times after losing weight. The drug ostarine, tested positive. He gained more than three pounds and knocked Haney down three times during the fight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
Garcia was suspended from NYSAC for one year. The undefeated Haney chose to rest and free up his WBC 140-pound belt.
Somewhat surprisingly, both fighters will be returning from more than a year-long layoff to meet illustrious foes.
On March 30, Cruz TKO Rolly Romero in the eighth round with a score of 26-3-1 (18 KOs) and won the WBA 140-pound gold belt, but in the second of three games He lost that title due to poor performance against a taller left hand. Handel, Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela of Mexico.
Of course, Garcia is a taller southpaw.
Both Garcia and Cruz were defeated by undefeated WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis. In December 2021, Cruz, as Davis’s substitute opponent, led the way with Davis and narrowly won with scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112.
Davis knocked out Garcia in the seventh round of their April 2023 fight in Las Vegas.
Cruz, meanwhile, will return from a loss to Valenzuela on February 1 in a pay-per-view (Amazon Prime Video, PPV.COM) co-op event, going 23-2-2 (18 KOs) Fellow countryman Angel Fierro. The main event takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Top of the card is an undefeated light heavyweight bout pitting WBC interim champion David Benavidez against No. 2 WBA champion David Morrell Jnr.
Action fighter Fierro is expected to give Cruz the type of fighting he craves.
Cruz told BoxingScene earlier this month, “This is the perfect fight to get me back on the big stage and build back the hype that I had before my last fight. I want everyone to build hype for my fight with Ryan Garcia… this It’s still my focus. People would love to see me jump in and slap Ryan Garcia.”
Advisor Gibbons said at the time that he hoped Cruz would add to the excitement surrounding the Garcia showdown.
Gibbons said: “If Isaac looks so strong, Ryan might run for the hills, but Ryan should be right back in for a tough fight, especially when he looked so good, knocking out Devin Haney. “Ryan just wants a big fight, so why not Isaac Cruz?”
Still, authorities will need Garcia to take Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) testing before the test can proceed. Garcia criticized the agency for finding two samples positive in his first fight, and he expressed uneasiness at relying on its findings – despite Arashih retaining VADA for drugs testing on most of his top-flight fight cards.
“The WBC and everyone involved in this fight said they couldn’t do this fight without VADA. I don’t know why or how it happened, but VADA has to be involved. I also use another DRUG TESTING AND VADA,” Garcia posted on his X account on Friday.
“I kept saying yes to testing but never thought about it [would] Everyone forced me, and that was VADA. Very strange.
“If you really care about the integrity and cleanliness of the sport, then what does it matter who tests me? Doesn’t it matter? [simpler] For me, it’s about being tested by a credible organization throughout the year rather than insisting it has to be a specific organization.
“Why is no one talking about [Haney conditioning advisor] Victor Conte and his influence on VADA? Previous Liar. Who dares to say that he is not the mastermind behind this? “
Margaret Goodman, director of the VADA International Boxing Hall of Fame, expressed dissatisfaction with Garcia’s previous verbal attacks on the company. She believes that once Garcia joins VADA, he will be conditionally prohibited from publicly criticizing the company and fined.
Lance Pugmire is an American senior writer at BoxingScene and an associate producer at ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first with the Los Angeles Times, then The Athletic and USA Today. In 2022, he received the Nat Fleischer Award from the Boxing Writers Association of America for career excellence.
