By: Sean Crose
The WBA junior welterweight title was at stake Saturday night in Los Angeles as champion Isaac Cruz slipped in between the ropes to take on Jose Valenzuela in a scheduled 12 rounder. The bout was the co-main event of the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov pay per view card. Cruz, as is his habit, charged in on his man at the sound of the opening bell. Southpaw Valenzuela, on the other hand, snapped out his southpaw jab. It was a fast paced opening three minutes.
The second was fast paced, as well. It would be interesting to see how the fight would play out after it began to slow down. With that being said, the third, like the previous two rounds, was a blistering affair. Things remained close in the fourth. The fifth was very hard to score. Cruz landed the harder shots, but the Valenzuela jab was working very well and keeping the challenger from getting hurt. The sixth had some thrilling moments as the fighters took turns tagging each other.
Each man had his moments in the seventh. A low blow from Cruz paused the action in the eighth. It was another fast paced round, though, one where Valenzuela appeared to have edged it. Indeed, Valenzuela appeared to be edging things in the tenth. Cruz tried to pick his shots a bit more in the eleventh, a strategy which worked, as he landed on Valenzuela with damaging shots at the end of the chapter. Cruz landed enough power shots to take the twelfth and final round.
The judges ultimately ruled for Valenzuela via split decision.