LOS ANGELES – Lightweight contender Isaac Cruz scored two knockdowns en route to a second-round knockout victory over Eduardo Ramirez in front of a partisan crowd Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Cruz, who resides in Mexico City, improves to 24-2-1, 17 knockouts.
In a lightweight elimination bout for the WBC world title, it was all Cruz from the opening bell, as he was the aggressor and landed the most effective punches against the southpaw Ramirez, who tried to fight back but couldn’t follow up. rhythm of the aggressive Cruz. .
Midway through the second round, Cruz launched and landed a lead left center to Ramirez’s head, dropping him face-first to the canvas. Ramírez beat the count, but was still on shaky legs as he again tried to fend off Cruz’s onslaught of punches.
Later in the round, Cruz caught Ramirez in a corner, where he faked a right hand, but connected with a left-right combination to the head that dropped Ramirez to the canvas. Referee Jack Reiss immediately stopped the fight at 2:27.
Cruz, who is ranked No. 5 by The Ring, has won his last two bouts since losing to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis on Dec. 5. The Davis-Cruz fight also took place at the Crypto.com Arena.
With Davis at ringside, the pro-Cruz crowd began chanting ‘We Want Tank’ and booing Davis whenever his image appeared on the big screen above the ring.
Cruz, 24, is hopeful a fight against Davis will take place, but offered another opponent when asked after the fight who he would also like to fight.
“Devin Haney,” Cruz replied. “I would like that fight.”
Haney, who is the Ring Magazine Lightweight Champion and the Undisputed Lightweight Champion, will face George Kambosos, Jr. in a rematch on October 16.
Ramirez, who resides in the boxing hotbed of Los Mochis, Mexico, drops to 27-3-3, 12 KOs. The 29-year-old had won all five of his previous fights since he lost to Claudio Marrero in June 2019.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County, California, Star newspaper. He can be contacted by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
