Let the record show that Cruz landed a lot of low blows, including one to Davis's ass cheek. I don't think he necessarily was going low on purpose...but, then again, I don't think Pitbull cared, either. As for the pushing down, it may not have been by the rulebook, but it was a smart strategy to keep Cruz from going into full marauder mode on the inside. As a result, Isaac had to be a bit more selective as to when and how to initiate a bull rush. Also, let the record show that Cruz is legit, and I think he makes everyone's life in the lightweight rankings utterly miserable. Might beat a few of them, too.
Honestly, scored it a draw. If pushed, would find it easier to swing a round for Cruz than Tank, but I'm happy that draw is a fair card for my part. Regardless, given Tank is the far more hyped fighter, Cruz gained way more from this fight than Tank - regardless of the result, officially or unofficially, Cruz gains more from it
Just to actually answer the question I thought it was a draw but if I had to pick I would say Davis by a hair. Cruz had a bunch of rounds where he had a lot of success that didn't quite reach the level of winning the round. I think if he had better control of his energy expenditure he would have gotten a solid points win (on a fair card) and maybe a KO. But of course the psychological composition needed to avoid wasting energy is the opposite of what you need to pull off a big upset as a come-forward brawler.
Maybe, but there was a very good possibility that Cruz would have mauled and headbutted him to oblivion otherwise. He came in with the head a couple of times as it was/ Anyway, neither guy seemed terribly bothered by the tone that was set, and they both did well to fight through it.
I didn't have a problem with the ref, told Cruz to keep his punches up and warned Davis a couple times, reflecting exactly how dirty they were respectively. But I would not have been upset if a point was taken from Davis.
You definitely could have deducted a point from Davis, if so inclined, sure. But, IIRC, he did limit his use of that tactic and relied more on movement after the official's last warning. I think Davis knew he was skating on thin ice and could only go to the well with that tactic so often.
Two opposite possibilities exist here, if we're honest. Either Cruz is legit, or Tank isn't. It's probably somewhere in the middle though - neither is gash, but nor is either a huge threat to the true championship contenders at 135. Davis is decent, but his clear discomfort and reliance on spots of spoiling in this fight back up my regular proclamation that it's easy to look highly skilled and flashy against poor opponents - the harder the opponent gets, the more that facade slips unless you're truly, truly elite (and Davis certainly ain't, and needs a lot more uncomfortable matches if he's ever going to get there).
I scored it 6-6 round-wise but came away feeling that Davis had edged it. Not sure if it was a case of Tank having a bad day, not being as good as advertised or Cruz was simply better than I thought. Either way, it makes you wonder what the results would have been had his opponent been someone like Valdez, Shakur, or Miguel Berchelt.
I had it 115-113 either way. I felt Cruz made the fight, hurt Davis but was never hurt himself. Impressive showing for the 23 yr old.
