Isaac Cruz vs Angel Fierro II Predictions: The Fight of the Year gets its Godfather Part II

Isaac Cruz and Angel Fierro aim to top their previous contender for 2025’s Fight of the Year on Saturday, July 19. Their all-Mexican match-up takes place on the undercard of WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios fighting whatever is left of Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Prime Video PPV will broadcast the event live.

Here are my Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II predictions ahead of this super lightweight set-to.

Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II Odds

Cruz is 1/5 to win, which makes sense considering his victory in the first encounter. Fierro is 4/1 to pull off the dramatic upset. The draw is priced at 16/1, which is the lower end of the typical draw markets. The first fight was close so the stalemate price reflects that.

Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II Fight Preview

It was only this past February that Cruz and Fierro launched a combined 1,410 punches at each other in anger. A frighteningly-quick turnaround for these two athletes and common sense tells you they surely cannot match such Energiser Bunny output.

This rematch is part of an increasingly rare breed in modern boxing. Rather than taking place to honour a contractual clause or to retcon poor judging, it is pleasingly a simple result of the first bout being astonishing. 

Cruz won the first and he needed that victory badly. ‘Pitbull’ had lost his WBA super lightweight strap to Jose Valenzuela in his previous bout. Fierro seemed like a smart choice for a comeback. A fellow Mexican who likes to plant his feet as much as Cruz does. It was heavy weather, but Cruz came through and kept his hopes of a second career championship alive.

Fierro perhaps benefitted even more from their instant classic than Cruz did. A trier who lost when it came time to face the contenders, men like Alfredo Santiago and Alex Martin had out-pointed him. A draw with Juan Carlos Burgos, who world names like Andy Cruz, Devin Haney, Keyshawn Davis and Mikey Garcia all dealt with, showed where he stands.

Or so we thought. Fierro fought his heart out against Cruz. It was a rip-roaring display and a prime example of that occasional, cherished phenomena in combat sports. Sometimes a fight is so courageously fought on both sides. So packed with action. So intensely contested. So pure and visceral that even the so-called loser wins in the eyes of the fans.

So we do it again. Cruz and Fierro attempt to join the annals of the great Mexican rivalries. Your obedient servant is 36 years old, so my memory instantly takes me to the three scintillating Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales showcases of violence. Israel Vazquez’s unbelievable four-fight series with Rafael Marquez is a poignant one to revisit. The former was cruelly taken from us by cancer last year. The first Cruz-Fierro fight saw the WBC award ‘Pitbull’ a title belt in Vazquez’s memory.

That is the sort of ground these Mexican warriors walk on. Their first fight encompassed the spirit of those great wars of the past. Cruz and Fierro scribbled their names into the column marked Fight of the Year in February. This Saturday, they aim to amend that scrawl with an added “II”.

Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II Full Card

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Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II

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Gary Russell Jr. vs. Hugo Castaneda

Alan Romero vs. Kyonosuke Kameda

Mark Magsayo vs. Jorge Mata Cuellar

Abel Ramos vs. Jose Luis Sanchez

Omar Salcido Gamez vs. Brian Gallegos

Eumir Felix Marcial vs. Bernard Joseph

Jursly Vargas vs. Sergio Aldana

Joseph Brown vs. Aaron Watson

Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro II Prediction

I expect this to be close again. I reckon neither will change much. I am not sure they know how and I mean that as a compliment.

Cruz has always been a warrior. That tendency to get involved kept him from the world title when he was too spirited against Gervonta Davis and got stopped. His give-it-all strategy also came unstuck against a switched-on Valenzuela.

But Cruz’s warrior’s code approach is perfect for Fierro. These two will not be hard to find if the first fight is anything to go by. I am sure both men will tell you they have developed strategies to overcome the rock-em-sock-em warfare of February. But as soon as that first full-blooded shot lands, it’s game on.

I think we will get a similar fight and the same result. Cruz has the top-flight expertise to take the play away from Fierro in crucial moments. He will eat punches to do it, but when does ‘Pitbull’ not get repeatedly struck in a major fight?

I will take Cruz via decision once again, at odds of 10/11.

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