BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, CA -- In the co-main event of the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov unified super middleweight championship here Saturday night, newly crowned WBA Jnr welterweight champion Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz (26-3-1, 18KOs) was upset by Jose "Rayo" Valenzuela (14-2, 9KOs) and lost his title.
Cruz used his strength, pressured Rayo for all 12 rounds, and landed some good punches. Rayo was also strong, used a good jab, good footwork, and used the ring effectively to outbox Cruz. In the 10th round, Rayo, now trained by former world champion Robert Garcia, was encouraged to stick to the "game plan" and he would be a world champion if he could continue another two rounds.
Cruz seemed to hurt Rayo towards the end of the 11th round which made all the Rayo fans nervous which encouraged the Cruz fans in the audience who rooted for Cruz.
Having survived the 11th round scare, Rayo finished the fight strong. It was a split decision by the judges. Two judges scored the fight 116-112 for Rayo while one judge scored it 115-113 for Cruz. Philboxing thought the fight should have been scored a unanimous victory for Rayo.
Rayo dedicated the fight to his parents who sacrificed so much for him bringing him to the United States and raising him here. As for Cruz, he disagreed with the decision and is interested in a rematch.
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