Isaac Cruz has some of the best defence in boxing

He keeps his hands up, tucks his chin in, and gets his head off the centre line. Simple, practical, and effective. Unlike some of these athletic types who keep their hands down and try to use flashy head movement rather than sound fundamentals (looking at you Ben Whitaker), Pitbull actually knows how to keep his goddamn hands up and tuck his elbows in.

 

Pitbull come forward style baby. Everyone should be forced to adopt it!!!

 

Him being composed, not afraid of being hit, and constantly threatening probably helps as well. High guard can become a prison if you can't assert yourself.

 

He did a good job of blocking some Gervonta's left uppercuts early in their fight.

 

Because hes soo tiny...

 

I've said it for years, shortness is a huge advantage. There's no bigger pain in the ass than fighting someone your own weight but whom you have to reach down to hit (and who barely has to bend their knees to duck your shots).

The kid that broke my nose in sparring was half a foot shorter than me.

Shortness trumps being a southpaw, tbh.

 

Yeah, he doesn't get clean that much, given that he doesn't really bother with the jab and employs a come forward style.

Davis-Cruz was an underrated fight in terms of action, and skills on display.

 

he blocked all of tank's uppercuts which is impressive

 

Glad people are realising this now. I remember when he was announced as Rolly's replacement for the Tank fight, people were calling him a midget bum, a no-name, a Mexican journeyman etc, but I knew he would be way tougher than Rolly. And to date, he's still Tank's hardest fight.

 

Thank you for this thread. If I coached professionally, his film would be the entry level footage for new boxers on how to keep your hands up. Crazy how something so important to the sport is so secondary to most boxers, Isaac however, keeps them up at ALL times almost excessively so and is so disciplined in the defense department.

 

People are still sleeping on Pitbull, but many look at resume's and until he gets a win over a big name, he will continue to fly under the radar.

 

He is certainly one of the best strictly inside fighter's we have seen in awhile. Way more skilled than he gets credit for.

 

Any fighter with his style, people usually have selective blindness to all their defensive capabilities.

 

Never once did I mention his defensive capabilities. What I specifically said was he is one of the best strictly inside fighters we have seen in awhile. I have yet to see someone consistently keep him outside. I suppose Davis had the most success but he clearly wants no part of him again. I'm not saying he is unbeatable but he is pure hell to fights.

Like most inside guys, he is going to eat some shots on the way in.

 

That's...literally what the theme of this thread we're in is all about, though.