Gervonta Brown Davis vs. Isaac Jonathan Cruz González

Tank had a long time to come up with a legit opponent for this fight, at least the original opponent. That was never the goal. The sexual assault guy was a bum but Cruz isn’t much better. Tank needs to step it up because he’s become a fraud, a marketing creation. There were lots of guys available when this fight was originally made.

Its funny to see you scoff at Campbell, Nakatini and Selby but they are better than anyone Tank has fought at LW. Linares gave Haney some trouble. Heck, tiny shot Gamboa on one leg gave Tank trouble. This is a typical Tank fight. Apologists will ask “who was available” and will still be asking next year when Tank continues his bum crushing tour. Of course there are no good guys available at the last minute. Even if there were, it wouldn’t matter. He’s a protected house fighter who isn’t interested in real challengers.

Cruz was a late fill in, I get it, but I was answering your question to name ten LWs better than Cruz and Tank is better than him so I included him on the list. Retired guys too because they could beat Cruz off the couch. Easy money.

 

Here's the thing...If Tank faced Campbell, Nakatani, and/or Selby had faced Tank, they'd be immediately dismissed. Even if they weren't, I'd still take a fresh guy like Cruz over any of them. Cruz chews them up and spits them out.

As for Tank, his competition has some peaks and valleys, but it's been on a bit of an uptick since the Gamboa fight. They're not spectacular, but LSC and Barrios would be considered solid names on the resumes of other top lightweights. Wasn't a fan of the Romero match-up but Cruz is a clear step up, and deserves his spot in the top ten as much as any of the other guys in the lower reaches of the top 10.

My Spidey sense is tingling on this. It has ever since this fight was announced. This is gonna be tough for Tank. And @CST80 and @IntentionalButt can attest that there's often something to this feeling I get.

 

This isn't a destination fight and obviously isn't PPV worthy, but it's not bad. Anyone boosting Linares or Selby would be slagging off Tank for fighting them, either. @Drew101 has spelled it out for you.

 

I agree with most of your comments except the part about Cruz chewing them up. Those guys would spark Cruz. Tank has not fought a real opponent in a long time. Cruz hasn’t fought anyone notable and was a late sub but it’s interesting that Tank has never tried to make a fight with a top LW and he’s been here for a couple years. He’s never tried to fight Haney, Loma, Teo, etc. I would have questioned Linares as an opponent, but Linares would have been the best LW he’s ever faced. Do you think it’s strange he has never even tried to get a Nakatani, Commey or someone at this level? Instead he fights small guys moving up or very low ranked challengers. It’s boxing and every once in a while a Kambosos comes along but more often, low ranked guys fight like low ranked guys. Cherry picks aren’t 100% but they are still cherry picks. What are the odds his next opponent is top 5? for a real strap versus fake titles? I bet they are very low.

 

Since I view Cruz at/above the level of Nakatani and Commey, I'd say Davis is now about to face a legit top ten guy at the weight. Wouldn't necessarily have complained about a Linares or Fortuna match instead, but they're both coming off a loss and both are past their peak (Particularly Linares).

Don't get me wrong... I'd love it if Davis went for an undisputed championship against either Kambosos or Taylor. If he opted to move up to face a guy like Zepeda or Prograis in the interim, I'd be all for that. But, since he seems determined to stick around at lightweight for a while, this is probably about as good a match-up as we can ask for at this particular moment. I think it's a more competitive match-up than you do. We'll see how it plays out.

If Tank gets by it, and opts to face a guy like Romero, I'll definitely criticize him. If he faces someone highly ranked, I'll be pleased. Simple as that.

 

Since this is being held in CA, there's a better than average chance that Jack Reiss will get the call for the main event. He's not great about allowing mauling, but will allow fighters to work on the inside if given the chance. While he can be...officious...he doesn't tend to play favorites or cater to the A side that often. So, you could do worse.

 

Santa cruz landed the same amount through 6 as Cruz did through 12 though. So in reality santa cruz was way more active and more agressive through 6 rounds than cruz actually was through 12. Just saying.

 

Santa cruz fought like how he was supposed to fight, aggressive out the gate and trying to make it a war. Everybody thought Cruz was going to come out aggressive as well, and fight how he normally fights but was taken out of his comfort zone by Tank, using his boxing legs and counter skills. Nobody really expected tank to flip the script like that and it worked against Cruz this time out.