As manager of Mexico’s Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, Sean Gibbons has marveled at how the popularity of his 25-year-old former lightweight title challenger has shot upward since Cruz fought Gervonta Davis three years ago.
Gibbons reports Cruz’s Instagram followers have nearly tripled, reaching 825,000 now and poised to eclipse 1 million by the time he completes his scheduled March 30 Prime Video co-main event versus another social media heavyweight, Rolando “Rolly” Romero, at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
“Pitbull’ will come out of this a star, and if he really whacks ‘Rolly,’ all he has to do is stand up in that ring and ask, ‘Gervonta, what do you want now?’” Gibbons said.
Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs) gave Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) a tremendous battle in December 2021, with the Baltimore product emerging with a narrow victory on the scorecards, 115-113, 115-113, 116-112.
Cruz has proceeded to knock out two foes and endured a lackluster affair in July against the awkward style of Giovanni Cabrera to claim a split-decision victory.
“There’s a real mystique about ‘Pitbull,’ and that opportunity to look sensational against ‘Rolly’ exists because [Romero] tends to just stand there … this might be a slow beatdown and a fight that steals the show,” Gibbons said of a card headlined by the 154-pound title bout between Tim Tszyu and Keith Thurman.
That’s the manager’s hope, anyway.
Cruz has expressed determination to erase the bad taste of the Cabrera bout and capture the WBA 140-pound belt his father, Isaac, longed for during his own career. The elder Cruz fought the likes of Vernon Forrest and John John Molina, and Isaac Jr.’s grandfather, Memo Cruz, fought Pipino Cuevas among others.
“Winning here would make his dad’s dream come true … this is the same belt his dad wanted,” Gibbons said.
More importantly, it would allow Cruz, by winning a belt in his 140-pound debut, to enhance his case for a rematch with Davis, who is due to headline a main event June 15 in Las Vegas versus Frank Martin.
It would mark a remarkable rise for the married father of two children who formerly scrounged just to buy tortillas, Gibbons said.
“If both [Cruz and Davis] win, this fight should happen,” Gibbons said. “Dollars make sense to Gervonta, and ‘Pitbull’ will be a better choice than Ryan Garcia again … I doubt [Garcia] even beats [Devin] Haney [April 20].”
