Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela says he’s upset that WBA light welterweight champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz refused to shake his hand ahead of their August 3rd fight at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
This is Pitbull Cruz’s first defense of his WBA 140-lb title, and he needs a win to keep alive his hopes of getting a lucrative match against the big names like Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, and Teofimo Lopez.
Handshake Refusal Fuels Valenzuela
Rayo Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) doesn’t understand why ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) disrespected him like that but he says it’s motivated him a bit more to win the fight.
It could be that Pitbull Cruz is still reeling from the rough promotion he had for his last fight against WBA 140-lb champion Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero on March 30th.
Pitbull dealt with a lot of insults in the build-up to that fight, and by the time he entered the ring, he was ready for some payback. Some of the stuff that Rolly said to get under Pitbull’s skin was mean-spirited and more the usual pre-fight banter.
Cruz and Rayo will fight on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov in a stacked card put on by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh.
Valenzuela’s Lifelong Dream
“This is a world title fight that I’ve dreamed of my whole life. I tried to shake his hand, but he didn’t want to shake mine. I don’t know why,” Jose ‘Rayo’ Valenzuela said to Fighthype about Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz’s refusal to shake his hand.
“A bit,” said Rayo when asked if it upset him that Pitbull Cruz didn’t want to shake his hand. “I’m trying to show respect, and there’s no reason to start acting like that. Maybe his head is getting big, but that’s definitely going to push me a bit more.
“I was in camp already for three or four weeks preparing for Edwin [De Los Santos], but I got a call with this big opportunity that presented itself for a big world title against Pitbull, and I took it.”
Rayo Valenzuela is coming off a highlight-reel sixth-round knockout of Chris Colbert in their rematch last December. Going into that fight, Rayo had lost his two previous matches, and he was in a situation where he needed a win to keep his career alive.
