Isaac Cruz vs Nestor Bravo Preview September 19th, 2026
Former WBA Junior Welterweight Champion Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz of Mexico City will be putting his WBC Interim Junior Welterweight Belt on the line against Nestor Bravo of Puerto Rico this Saturday, September 19th. Cruz lost his WBA Crown in his first defence to fellow countryman Jose Valenzuela in August, 2024 via a split decision. He bounced back with 10-round unanimous decisions over Angel Fierro and Omar Gamez and won the Interim Belt in his July, 2025 bout with Gamez. He has defended that title once, with a 12-round draw against Lamont Roach last December. Roach was dropped in the third round and Cruz had a point deducted in the seventh for a kidney shot. Cruz originally won his WBA Title in March, 2024 when he stopped Rolando Romero in the eighth round. Bravo last saw action in January when he stopped Pedro Campa in the second round. In his previous outing Bravo lost a 10-round split decision to Xolisani Ndongeni despite dropping him in the second round. It is his lone pro defeat. This weekend’s 12-rounder from San Diego, California can be seen live in most nations on DAZN.
Cruz vs Bravo Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Nestor Bravo +416
- Isaac Cruz -650
My Pick
The 28-year-old Cruz made a name for himself on the world stage in December, 2021 when he dropped an exciting 12-round unanimous decision to WBA Lightweight Champion Gervonta Davis. He bounced back from that defeat with a fifth-round stoppage of Yuriorkis Gamboa for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight Belt. He then stopped Eduardo Ramirez in the second round and beat Giovanni Cabrera by split decision for the WBC Silver and vacant WBO Latino Lightweight Titles. Cruz added the WBA World Title by halting Rolando Romero in the eighth round in March, 2024. However he lost it to Jose Valenzuela five months later. He rebounded from that setback with his decisions over Angel Fierro and Omar Gamez and the draw with Lamont Roach.
So after all of that ring activity, we see Cruz enter the ring this weekend with a mark of 28-3-2 with 18 Ko’s. Altogether, he has boxed 192 rounds since making his pro debut as a teenager back in 2015. Cruz is known for having pretty good power in his fists as 64.3 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage. He isn’t really regarded as a one-punch KO artist though and has gone the distance in 10 of his last 14 fights. He measures 5-feet-4-inches tall with a 63.5-inch wingspan and moved up in weight to take on Rolando Romero. This means it’s his sixth fight in the 140 lb super lightweight/junior welterweight division.
The toughest opponents for Cruz to date have been Roach, Fierro, Valenzuela, Davis, Romero, Gamboa, an aging Francisco Vargas and former world champ Diego Magdaleno. He’s taken on some top-class opposition and managed to stop Magdaleno in just 53 seconds in 2020. Cruz’s first pro defeat came at the hands of Luis Miguel Montano via an eight-round unanimous decision in 2016. His first draw was a six-round affair with Jose Capilla in 2017. Cruz has an aggressive non-stop punching style which makes him quite dangerous as well as fan friendly.
Bravo is 32 years old and carries around an impressive mark of 24-1 with 17 Ko’s. He turned pro in 2015 as well after his amateur career and has 103 rounds of experience under his belt since. As an amateur he reportedly won a gold medal at the 2012 Caribbean Games and a bronze at the Independence Cup. He also beat Robson Conceiçao, who went on to win an Olympic Gold Medal in 2016 and became a pro world champion.
Bravo has a good five-inch height advantage on Cruz as he stands 5-feet-9-inches tall and his 70-inch reach gives him a 6.5-inch advantage in that department. In addition, he has a better knockout percentage than Cruz as 70.8 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage including six of his past eight. The quality of Bravo’s opposition doesn’t rival Cruz’s though even though 18 of his opponents entered the ring with a winning record.
He has yet to face a legitimate contender and his toughest foe to date has arguably been Xolisani Ndongeni, and he was beaten by him. Bravo captured the vacant WBC Latino Lightweight Belt in 2018 with an eight-round unanimous nod over Emiliano Garcia. He added the vacant WBO NABO Super Lightweight Title in 2022 when he stopped Adrian Yung in the seventh round. In 2023, his 10-round unanimous decision over Will Madera saw him take the WBA Continental Latin America Super Lightweight Title. Bravo also has wins over Vitor Jones, Jonathan Perez and Jose Gallegos.
Prediction…
Cruz isn’t really a one-punch KO artist and he’s giving up a lot of height and reach to Bravo. In addition, Bravo has good power and is a fine pressure boxer with a great left hook and uppercut. It could also be argued that Bravo has the overall better boxing skills. As he usually needs to, Cruz will have to work his way inside to let his hands go and volume punching will be needed to try to keep Bravo on the back foot. Bravo is the type of boxer who will be a handful for Cruz and has the skills and power to pull off an upset. But as long as Cruz marches forward and throws a lot of leather I’m expecting him to do just enough to retain his belt, likely by close and somewhat controversial decision.
I think Cruz’s non-stop style will decide it.
Play: Cruz -650 @ BetOnline.ag
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Isaac Cruz betting • Nestor Bravo betting