Gervonta Brown Davis vs. Isaac Jonathan Cruz González - the standalone IB RBR scorecard

Gervonta Brown Davis vs. Isaac Jonathan Cruz González, 12 rounds @ lightweight

(couldn't find a full upload anywhere on YT or DM, had to do some major bottom-of-the-lake combing..)

 

Round 1

Davis is circling and popping the right jab, then grabbing Cruz and spinning him away. Hard looping rights on the body from Cruz. He tries one up top and Davis is just barely able to swerve away from it. Chopping rights behind the left jab from Cruz as he closes in and Davis is hit a few times while ducking away. Cruz applying heavy pressure and clips Davis on the point of his beard with a lunging hook on the frontfoot. Davis tries a right jab and left uppercut combo to escape the ropes but Cruz blocks it. Body shots by Cruz. Davis flurrying off the jab but just stirring air, not setting his feet. Davis lands a jab and then whacks Cruz behind the neck with a right hook and Cruz tumbles onto all fours, ruled a slip/push.

10-9 Cruz

 

Round 2

Davis is punching into Cruz's jab with his left, knuckle-bumping it to a full halt and dissolving it while stepping wide around him. Wide left hooks up top by Cruz, forcing Davis to spiral in retreat until he must clinch. Davis leaning his full weight down on Cruz's backside, laying atop him. Davis jabbing and moving but unable to get in rhythm with Cruz's staccato bursts of attack, sometimes interrupting his momentum with partially blocked left uppercuts. High-thrust left jabs and shoveling rights on the body from Cruz.

10-9 Cruz, a little closer

20-18 Cruz

 

Round 3

Davis is jabbing, hopping outside, shuffling a few steps either diagonally or straight backward and then riding the carousel until Cruz narrows the gap and clinching him. Southpaw 1-2s by Davis, playing tag-and-snag. Cruz is trying a more regimented approach, cutting off the ring behind a high double left jab, but his footwork and speed isn't up to snuff's with Davis'.

10-9 Davis

29-28 Cruz

 

Round 4

Davis is jabbing and moving, but finding Cruz sticking to him like glue. Cruz is catching him with lancing rights on the lower mandible as Davis is ceding ground. Cruz just frittering away jabs, intending not to score with them but to keep a bead on Davis' location, biding his time until near enough to either land body shots or uncork another climbing right. Davis playing a good slip-and-counter game in the late going, dancing around Cruz in the pocket and landing jabs. Davis still wants to plant that left uppercut on the broad underside of the chin, but Cruz very aware of it, getting his gloves in position to at least partially absorb it every time.

10-9 Cruz, close

39-37 Cruz

 

Round 5

Davis is holding out the right arm stiff after throwing a false-flag jab a`la Wlad Klitschko, then plugging a hard left into Cruz's gut. Cruz is grinding inside and getting smothered as Davis continues to guide Cruz into a deep bow with both elbows digging into his kidneys, his upper body weight pressing on Cruz's shoulders. They exchange shots fencing at medium-close range, Davis' hand speed coming into play as he scores multiple jabs and left crosses per every one grazing connect for Cruz. A nice lead right from a crouch by Cruz but Davis answers with combinations while sliding his feet in reverse and circularly.

10-9 Davis

48-47 Cruz

 

Round 6

Davis is shanking Cruz in the left ear with his jab, one followed by another with just a bit of adjustment in his footing as Cruz hunches over and tries slipping and getting into position to rally back with something. Davis is caught by a short right hand after getting confident on the back of all that successful jabbing, and now Cruz begins to snap into focus, keeping his bent left arm up to screen out jabs and throwing compact shots only when he gets in close. Davis begins to leave his right foot trailing, letting Cruz almost catch up to him and putting out a breadcrumb trail of weak jabs, then dragging his front leg in at the last moment. Nice tactical shifts from each in this round. Cruz is throwing wild pendulums downstairs now, but Davis able to evade them all, then boomerang in with a right jab on the forehead. Cruz slowing his output from the previous few rounds but the gambit doesn't really up his accuracy much with the defense of Davis this dialed in.

10-9 Davis, close

57-57

 

Steve Farhood has it 58-56 Davis, giving Cruz the 1st and 4th.

 

Round 7

Davis nearly traps himself in a corner while circling - or so it appears, but then has a jab waiting for Cruz to stub his face on diving in for body shots, and then a clinch. Davis is getting pressured heavily and having to watch out for some giant corkscrew rights on the ribs that clearly don't feel nice - but he is mostly able to pull the rug out from under Cruz's feet and keep him lunging and overextending. Cruz also trying left jabs at the head on the way in but those landing far less often than his corkscrew rights downstairs. Several quick unanswered right jabs on the face by Davis. Cruz gets in a right on the body, only for Davis to reposition and do some cute boxing in the pocket with ducking, head movement, and sidesteps while continuing to score right jabs & hooks. One more right uppercut downstairs by Cruz diving in, just too little volume and even what he does land isn't as crisp as Davis' jabs and counters.

10-9 Davis

67-66 Davis

 

Round 8

Davis is jabbing the head and turning Cruz, then cuffs him with a mostly blocked right hook as their feet are crossed and causing a stumble onto the mat for Cruz. Davis is using the full ring, keeping his back off the ropes, pivoting and jabbing as Cruz inexorably stalks and keeps himself poised to chuck uppercuts when in range to hit the body. Davis is trying for some fancy stuff now, throwing a Sagatesque right "tiger" upper-hook while strafing past Cruz and missing, a little overly ambitious. Cruz suddenly unfolds himself from a crouch and slams an overhand right into Davis' brow. They grapple and Cruz falls on the canvas. HUGE rights by Cruz, straights and uppercuts, perforating Davis' lungs.

10-9 Cruz, extraordinarily close, basically seized it with the last half-minute

76-76

 

Round 9

Davis is sniping with that left, finding the nose of Cruz with it and knocking him into a standstill. Cruz having a difficult time bypassing the waiting jab of Davis, which is playing zone D, held up several inches from his face and fluttering in place. Davis slowing down the pace considerably, keeping his distance whenever Cruz dives in with rights that at best get a slight pice of Davis' hip. Fully in control, Davis pot shots with lean-in jabs while circling. Floyd applauding enthusiastically with a big grin on his face, maybe having some flashbacks as Davis in fact channeled a bit of him at his best in that round.

10-9 Davis

86-85 Davis

 

Round 10

Davis is banged into a corner immediately, not given latitude to get any sideways rhythm going. Cruz landing with both the jab and right hand for once, dinging either side of Davis' skull as he backs straight up into the padded turnbuckle and finds himself penned in for a moment. Davis is able to shimmy and jab his way free but Cruz remains in a set, determined posture and keeps jabbing his way in, rather than just winging errant lead body shots, conserving his energy, applying smarter pressure now. Davis is jabbing frantically, missing a bunch over Cruz's head. Big salvo downstairs by Cruz bending over past the waist and hurtling inside. Fake-out jab up top by Cruz gets Davis to straighten all the way up, leaving his midsection exposed momentarily, with Cruz battering him with a Louisville Slugger right. Another one at the bell, excellent body work by Cruz.

10-9 Cruz

95-95

 

Round 11

Davis is under siege from the get-go with jabs and rights as he was in the previous round. Davis slinks into the ropes, nearly sitting on them and then pitching forward into a clinch. Big shots by Cruz with both hands, taking his time, fully coiling his arms in before firing the next, putting emphasis on each, nothing wasted. Davis is traveling lightly, in and out with air hockey puck delicacy, showing a jab but unable to get much work done as Cruz remains in a high guard until ready to let something rip downstairs. Cruz is nudging away Davis' right jab with his left wrist, pushing it outward to his own left and then spearing in low with his right.

10-9 Cruz, nothing even remotely close about it.

105-104 Cruz

 

Round 12

Davis is backhanding a jab out from his lead thigh, a bit sloppily, mainly window-dressing, and then skipping counter-clockwise. Heavy scooping rights on the body from Cruz galloping in. Cruz starting to speed up his advance now, showing that he was indeed saving a bit of gas for some late heroics. Davis tries lining up a 1-2 but Cruz disrupts it by ducking in and throwing hard right hands past it, while letting his left jab act like flypaper to deflect the shots of Davis. Cruz throws himself off balance doubling a jab and then letting a big twisting right uppercut loose as Davis baits him on splayed legs just over a pace away. Davis gritting his teeth, jabbing and missing, almost gored by Cruz diving in, guiding him into a corner with his right arm behind Cruz's neck. Wild attacks by Cruz before the bell, hoping for a last second KO, but Davis able to squirm free.

10-9 Cruz, very close, brought the hustle but got away from his efficiency in the last couple of frames perhaps too intent on ending things and not leaving it up to judges.

115-113 Cruz

 

Swing that last one, and Tank retain with a draw - but any illusions that I had coming in about him being levels above Pitbull have been thoroughly dispelled. (whether that says more about Cruz having been underrated or Davis overrated, will be up to personal interpretation)

@Drew101 and @CST80, while they landed on antipodean sides of this and each insist on it being close but clear for the opposite fighter - both deserve props for seeing how stylistically toxic Cruz would be for Davis in this one. I thought it would need to be someone like Cruz, except better. Nope. He was just about good enough.