RIVERSIDE, Calif. – It was a fight that was quickly arranged, with the opponent invited after losing two of his last three fights, including a knockout loss.
Perhaps that’s all the fight organizers need to know for up-to-date WBA 140-pound champion Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz, given the popular Mexican’s penchant for delivering devastating blows that only the most granite jaw can withstand.
But Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela has a richer story, one that is obscured by superficial analysis of his record and boxing highlights. And now, with Cruz in the ring, and a title shot within reach, he can tell it.
“People underestimate me, but I think that’s a good thing,” Valenzuela recently told BoxingScene after training at his trainer Robert Garcia’s gym.
Let’s first go back to that third-round knockout defeat on Sept. 4, 2022, at the hands of Edwin De Los Santos, Valenzuela’s Dominican replacement opponent, whom the 23-year-old, training under Jose Benavidez Sr., didn’t take seriously and wasn’t prepared for.
“Everybody disrespects me because of the De Los Santos fight, but if you knew the conditions I fought in, everybody would have lost. People say I’m quinic. I don’t think I’m quinic because he hit me a lot… Two weeks before the fight, I had surgery on my leg, a sleeve, antibiotics,” Valenzuela said.
He believes that the failure was caused by youthful recklessness and overconfidence.
“I don’t want to criticize anyone. I take the blame for being youthful, winning every fight, always being in the spotlight, being around (former undefeated super middleweight champion) David (Benavidez) … I got caught up in the moment and (the loss) was a good, humbling experience,” he said.
Still, it stung, and Valenzuela was furious when he later learned from his parents that supporters of Cruz — who knocked out Eduardo Ramirez in the second round that same night — had rubbed salt into the wound of Valenzuela’s defeat.
“When I lost to De Los Santos, Pitbull’s team threw Pitbull flags at my family after I got knocked out,” Valenzuela said. “That’s always stuck with me. I’ve always held a grudge against Pitbull to get him.”
In addition to working with Garcia — an early favorite for trainer of the year who counts super flyweight champion Jessie “Bama” Rodriguez, undefeated junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz and former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez among his stable — Valenzuela said he changed “everything” about the people around him after suffering another unanimous decision loss to Chris Colbert on March 25, 2023.
Valenzuela, he said, is referring to “everyone around me — (connecting with) clear-minded people who love me and who will tell me what I need to hear.”
The left-handed Valenzuela returned to seek revenge for his sixth-round knockout loss to Colbert in December.
is the Spanish word for lightning.
“(‘Rayo’) is very aggressive, he throws challenging punches with great power. ‘Rayo’ probably has more power than ‘Pitbull,’” Garcia said in a stunning statement. “His power is crazy. And he listens. He boxes well, using that straight line and those angles — and that’s all part of the plan.”
It is also not widely known that Valenzuela has been in Garcia’s gym for four months straight.
He began preparing for revenge against De Los Santos when the phone rang. Premier Boxing Champions had scheduled Cruz’s increasingly popular first title defense on an Aug. 3 card in Los Angeles, billed by Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh and her Riyadh Season.
Will Valenzuela miss De Los Santos’ title fight?
The answer “Yes” was delivered immediately.
“Being world champion has been my dream since I was 10,” Valenzuela said. “After losing everything to De Los Santos and Colbert in the blink of an eye, after leaving Benavidez and finding my way, getting my hunger back and being with my team, this is a second chance to do what I love.”
Since making the decision to fight, Valenzuela (13-2, 9 KOs) has admitted he feels fate played a part in it as well.
When he started boxing at age 10, he recalls his first training mile, putting on his headphones and listening to an Eminem song. Valenzuela later learned that Alalshikh would bring Eminem to an Aug. 3 event headlined by the rapper’s friend, undefeated three-division champion Terence Crawford.
“It’s crazy because it’s full circle – my first run for my first title,” Valenzuela said.
Garcia can’t wait to send his well-prepared protégé into the ring, knowing his hungry challenger has a complicated left-handed stance and the ability to throw a series of punches and powerful strikes, while the champion can see this as a coronation of sorts in front of a cordial Los Angeles crowd.
Both Valenzuela and Garcia watched as left-handed Giovanni Cabrera troubled Cruz in their July 2023 fight, which was decided by a one-point split decision.
“A left-hander is always going to be tough for a right-hander. In most fights, we try to avoid lefties because they always pose problems,” Garcia said. “(Cruz) didn’t look too good against a left-hander (Cabrera), so that’s something we look at. He didn’t have much success against a towering, skinny left-hander. ‘Rayo’ is much, much better than Giovanni Cabrera. We’re also working on his punches up the middle. If he lands well, he’ll hurt ‘Pitbull.’
“And being in the gym for so long is good. His mind is focused on the fight. He’s ready.”
Garcia makes one more point.
“Valenzuela is very focused. He’s fighting for the title against the most beloved fighter from Mexico. Nobody in Mexico loves ‘Pitbull’. It’s a great opportunity – because ‘Rayo’ was also born in Mexico and he wants to let the world know that there are two Mexicans in the ring, which makes the fight more intriguing.
“He has a great chance and I think that even though ‘Pitbull’ is an incredible fighter that we respect, they’ve also done a great job promoting him and picking his opponents.”
Much like Eminem’s lyrics in “Lose Yourself,” Valenzuela expects fight night to be an opportunity to reflect on the hardships he’s experienced.
Raised in Washington, D.C., and born in Mexico, he recalls that his parents, father Arturo and mother Yagna, made large concessions to support his boxing dream.
“They sacrificed everything for me — two hours to get to the gym, making minimum wage ($10 an hour). They put the last $30 in the gas to get me there,” Valenzuela said. “Coming home, the lights were out. They invested all their money in me — money and time they didn’t have. The fact that I was so close to losing everything … to being here now. I’ll leave it all in the ring.”
Arturo and Yagna Valenzuela will be present at the fight.
“This is the perfect moment in my life,” said Jose Valenzuela. “Everything happens for a reason. I don’t think I’m as ready as I am right now. Everything has prepared me perfectly.”
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