Pitbull Cruz KOs Bravo, Garcia Accepts December Challenge

Isaac Cruz knocked out Nestor Bravo in six rounds and Ryan Garcia immediately accepted the callout with a December offer on the table.

Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz stopped Nestor Bravo in the sixth round of their WBC interim super lightweight title fight Saturday night at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, making a successful second defense of his interim belt. Cruz improved to 29-3-2 with 19 knockouts, dropping Bravo (24-2, 17 KOs) with a lead left hook that put the Puerto Rican on the canvas. Cruz immediately called out Ryan Garcia on DAZN's broadcast.

According to Yahoo Sports, the fight was anything but the crowd-pleaser fans expect from Cruz. Bravo lost two points — one for holding and another for throwing Cruz onto the canvas — and committed at least a dozen rule infractions across six rounds, including excessive holding, low blows, and a second-round spot where he lifted Cruz off the ground and tossed him to the floor. Referee Thomas Taylor warned Bravo before Round 5 that he was one foul from disqualification and would not be paid, and the fighter cleaned up his act for the final two rounds before the stoppage.

Yahoo Sports reports Cruz engineered the finish cleverly, feinting jabs to disguise the lead left hook that crushed Bravo to the canvas in Round 6; Bravo waited out the full ten-count before rising and complaining about the stoppage. Cruz dominated all six rounds and then called Garcia out directly on the microphone. Garcia, fresh off an early knockout of Conor Benn, had told Uncrowned he wanted a December or January return and named Cruz as a preferred opponent — and he answered on social media within hours.

Ryan Garcia responded to the callout by writing that "Bravo pit bull proved me wrong tonight — let's do this in December, the offer is on the table," per Yahoo Sports. He added that he had already given the go-ahead to his attorney, claimed Cruz had denied the fight twice before — once when Garcia was his mandatory — and vowed this would be his last offer if rejected again. A matchup would pit a beloved Mexican champion against a hugely popular Mexican American star, a proven commercial draw on DAZN, where the PBC card streamed without pay-per-view charges.

Cruz has now held the interim super lightweight belt for over a year, per Bad Left Hook, which notes the winner of interim bouts hopes to convert into a full title shot. The undercard also delivered, with Daniel Blancas, Marco Verde, and Eumir Marcial all winning by TKO on the same PBC show streamed on DAZN.