Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz is trained by his father, not unlike many top professional boxers.
Now Cruz will fight Rolando Romero for the WBA junior welterweight world title on March 30 on Amazon Prime pay-per-view. Keith Thurman vs. Sebastian Fundora is the headliner, but many eyes will be watching Cruz’s debut at a new weight class.
Cruz came to fame with a first-round knockout of Diego Magdaleno. It got people talking, but what kept people talking was his close fight with Gervonta “Tank” Davis. Despite losing, it might have birthed a Mexican superstar in the making. Through his whole rise to fame, his father has been there with him along the way.
“Look, it is a separation of family and work,” Cruz told BoxingScene. “So with my dad, we know when it is go-time and when we got to train it is one thing then, after we finish training, we are back to being a family again.”
Cruz is currently on a three-fight win streak since his loss to Davis. He had knockout victories over Yuriorkis Gamboa and Eduardo Ramirez. Then on the Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford undercard, he won a split-decision over Giovanni Cabrera in an ugly fight.
The 25-year-old with Cruz holds a record of 25-2-1, 17 KOs, and is confident he will be a world champion on March 30. His opponent, Romero, the champion is 15-1, 13 KOs.
Cruz spoke of having two relationships with his father; the man who raised him, and the man who trains him. He treats the two relationships as different entities.
“We focus on having those worlds separate, and we are getting along great,” said Cruz.
His camp has been held in Mexico City, where he hopes to return with a world title.
“Winning this world title would be a great sense of pride, not just for me, but for my family,” he added. “Achieving our dreams together, everything and their support and everything we have worked towards throughout our lives. Also, [there would be] a great sense of pride for Mexico as well.”