Isaac Cruz made Rolando Romero eat his words Saturday night.

Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) started off fast and beat Romero (15-2, 13 KOs) from pillar to post, from the opening bell until the fight was stopped in the eighth round. Romero simply had no answer for the pressure that Cruz applied and only had small moments of success.

With the victory, Cruz captured a junior welterweight title.

Romero trash-talked Cruz throughout the leadup to the fight, referring to him as a chihuahua instead of his nickname of “Pitbull.” The hype culminated with Romero sporting a gold chain with a chihuahua amulet featuring Cruz’s face during fight week.

When asked about the chain at the post-fight press conference, Cruz’s father and trainer, Isaac Cruz Sr., didn’t hold back.

“We made him eat his words,” the elder Cruz said. “We trained hard and did what we planned. As far as the chain goes, he can keep it because that is a lifelong reminder of the beating my son gave to him.”

As for his future plans, Cruz didn’t rule out any opponent. He said that he is open to fighting anyone.

The media mentioned unification bouts against Subriel Matias, Devin Haney and Gervonta “Tank” Davis (in a rematch) as possible future opponents. Cruz said he was open to facing all of them.

“I have always said that I have no problem fighting anyone,” Cruz said. “It is very simple: Both sides just need to come to an agreement, and we can make any fight happen. It is just a matter of negotiating a fight and coming to terms.”

The lead-up to the fight between Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney is filled with name-calling. The latter’s father-cum-trainer, Bill Haney, has now roped in Floyd Mayweather and his business aide, Leonard Ellerbe, accusing the duo of recording a controversial sparring video of his son, that went viral earlier this month.

Hostilities percolate deep within for the 20th April matchup. ‘Ry’ in his means of pulling down his opponent, leaked a video of Gervonta Davis causing serious damage to ‘The Dream’ in an old sparring session at the Mayweather Gym. While it looked like the controversy had died down in light of Ry’s other internet antics, it seems like senior Haney is still sore about it.

Bill Haney speaks up for his son!

When asked about the video that showed his son taking some major beating, a riled-up Bill Haney blamed Mayweather and his promotion company’s CEO Leonard Ellerbe for recording the video. He remarked to Fight Hub TV, “He didn’t leak the video, he made the highlight film and then gave it to Ryan Garcia to leak it.”

As per reports, the video dates back to when Devin, now 25, was almost 17 and ‘Tank’, now 29 was 21. In the video, Tank can be seen going hard at Haney, leaving him hardly any moment to recuperate. While it showed the 2-division champion under heavy pressure, he claimed that the fight was edited to omit the last few moments of it.

Why did they not release the entire video, though? Senior noted, “Same reason why Floyd didn’t show the video of Devin when he got in his a**. Imma tell you this one time, I guarantee you, after Floyd got in there with Devin, he rethought boxing from a professional standpoint and not an exhibition standpoint.”

In an earlier interview, Senior Haney claimed that when ‘Money’ and his son sparred, the former welterweight champion was not even close to making it equal to Devin Haney. He noted, “He should’ve showed the sparring video of him and Devin while he’s showing all those sparring videos. And it was 6-0, it wasn’t close.” 

The Haneys and Mayweather are not on good terms. Post the ‘KingRy’ fight, if he successfully dominates it, Haney will strongly push for a fight against the WBA light titlist, Tank. While he is no longer associated with ‘Pretty Boy’, there are worries if his cordial relationship with the latter implicates the fight against Haney. To these concerns, Bill Haney has an answer.

‘Money’ cannot harm Devin Haney vs. Gervonta Davis

In the conversation, Bill Haney observed that his beef with Mayweather and Ellerbe would not jeopardise a fight between his son and Davis. After all, it is the audience that seeks this fight, and their wish is his command.

He explained, “No, the people pay the bills. Leonard don’t pay the bills. Floyd don’t pay the bills. The people, all you guys, pay for the fight. They can’t, we don’t dictate that. You guys put the bullseye on a fighter’s back. Leonard don’t dictate nothing.”

The old Devin Haney–Gervonta Davis (now Abdul Wahid) sparring footage is back in the news. Reportedly disclosed, it might have finally put to rest the varied claims made over the years. However, no doubt, it has stirred the hornet’s nest. A string of controversies, assertions, and rebuttals seems to have marred the upcoming Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney fight. But rising featherweight star Bruce Carrington believes one has to be a bit circumspect while leaping to conclusions based on a clip.

Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are going to meet in a month’s time at New York’s Barclays Center. The duo will fight for the latter’s WBC light welterweight belt. FightHype caught up with Bruce Carrington at New York’s Turning Stone Resort Casino. The venue hosted the Raymond Ford–Otabek Kholmatov title clash.

Bruce Carrington: ‘The Dream’ vs. ‘Tank’ sparring

Three weeks ago, the 26-year-old Brooklyn-born featherweight achieved a new milestone in his over-two-year-old career. He became the new occupant of the vacant IBF Inter-Continental, NABF, and WBO Inter-Continental featherweight championships. He knocked out Philippines-born, Norway-based boxer Bernard Torres in the fourth round, delivering a statement victory. FightHype’s Javon Hill asked, “I want to get your opinion on the sparring the leaked sparring Ryan leak of a Tank and Devin. What do you think about that?”

Bruce Carrington replied, “Oh yeah, no, that made that was crazy you already know that’s gonna cause a lot of controversy.” However, he seemingly cautioned. He perhaps wanted everyone to understand that, after all, Devin Haney was just sixteen when the sparring happened. Gervonta Davis (now Abdul Wahid) had yet to commence his world championship-winning spree. However, he was already twenty-one and a veteran of nearly a dozen fights. So definitely, that gave him an advantage over young Haney

“But you guys got to put a lot of things into play. Devin was 16; you know what I mean, and that would give you definitely you know, Tank more of a edge on that,” Carrington said. But from ‘Shu Shu’s perspective, the footage might give some hints.

Not just what it appears

Certain aspects of the boxers that they might have seemingly carried back from those days. Hence, when studied in relation to the upcoming battle, it makes for an intriguing insight.

Bruce Carrington said, “But I still see the little things that both fighters still do from back in that back in the day when they did spar, so very interesting perspective that is putting into the potential fight to come up, man. It definitely got a lot of people, like, you know, a ringing, and got a lot of people like watching out for this fight.”

Many followers would be keenly watching out for how the leaked footage plays out the thoughts and emotions of both boxers in the run-up to the big fight. But for sure, with over four weeks still separating the two from slugging it out, they can look forward to some more fireworks played out in one form or another.