Mexican star Isaac Cruz will remain on Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios fight card after a late replacement was secured for the withdrawing Angel Fierro.
Cruz, who previously held the WBA super lightweight title in 2024, was scheduled to rematch Fierro on the Amazon Prime Video pay-per-view lineup, however Fierro was forced to withdraw from the bout Friday, Ring Magazine reported.
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Fierro experienced health issues during his weight cut and was advised to go to the hospital and withdraw from the Cruz bout, which was set for the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Cruz will remain on the pay-per-view card against Mexico’s Omar Salcido Gamez.
Trained by Jose Benavidez Sr. — the father of David Benavidez — Salcido (20-2, 14 KOs) was defeated by IBF mandatory challenger Andy Cruz in a lightweight contest on January’s Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson undercard. Prior to that, Salcido pulled off an upset over former champion Chris Colbert this past October. He was already scheduled on the Pacquiao vs. Barrios non-televised card against Brian Gallegos in an eight-round bout.
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“Pitbull” Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) edged Fierro in a Fight of the Year contender in February. It was his first fight since losing his WBA title at the hands of Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela, another fighter formerly trained and managed by Benavidez Sr.
It is the second significant change this fight week in the boxing world. Austin “Ammo” Williams’ IBF middleweight title final eliminator against Etinosa Oliha — scheduled for the Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez vs. Phumelele Cafu undercard on Saturday — was postponed earlier in the week after an eye issue forced out Oliha. Williams instead takes on Ivan Vazquez.
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