The Mexican living in the United States, José “Rayo” Valenzuela, sprang a surprise by defeating the Mexican Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz by split decision, in the undercard event of the “Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov” card, which took place this Saturday at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

Cruz was a clear favorite to win this fight. His devastating power had become a great attraction for fans and big boxing figures, however, “Pitbull” fell short in his intentions against southpaw Valenzuela who boxed with intelligence, using range counterpunching and showing teak like resistance, to win on two cards 116-112 and 116-112, while a third Judge saw Cruz win with an advantage of 115-113.

With this result, “Rayo” Valenzuela, now WBA champion, improved his record to 14-2, with 9 knockouts, while Cruz is now 26-3-1, with 18 knockouts.

The card was organized by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, of Riyadh Season Card, with the support of several important promoters.