Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz Vs. Omar Salcido: Fierro Out, Salcido Steps In For Las Vegas Light Welterweight Rematch

Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz will fight replacement opponent Omar Salcido after his originally scheduled opponent, Angel Fierro, had health problems while cutting weight for their light welterweight rematch this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Salcido Replaces Fierro Opponent

Salcido (20-2, 14 KOs) was already on Saturday’s card, fighting little-known Brian Gallegos in an eight-rounder. It was a simple matter of moving Salcido, 25, into the fight with ‘Pitbull’ Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) instead.

Salcido’s Power Threatens Cruz

It’s unclear if the fight will be for 12 rounds. That was what Pitbull Cruz’s fight with Fierrero was scheduled for. It would be difficult for Cruz to fight a big puncher like Salcido in a 12-round fight without preparation for his style.

Cruz is a good fighter, but he’s there to be hit. Salcido has the kind of power that will bring him down. However, Pitbull’s chin could allow him to go the full distance with Salcido, but it still won’t be easy.

Lance Pugmire reported that Salcido will be the replacement opponent for Cruz on Saturday’s card on July 19th on PBC on Prime Video PPV. Salcido is arguably a better fighter than Fierro, and there’s a real chance that “Pitbull’ Cruz could lose this fight.

Salcido is coming off a wide 10-round unanimous decision to 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz on January 25th. He gave Cruz a really tough test in that fight, landing a lot of bombs despite the Cuban’s excellent defense.

In Salcido’s fight before that, he’d knocked out the highly skilled super featherweight Chris Colbert in the ninth round last October. Salcido broke Cobert down with power punching and pulled off a shock upset that surprised a lot of fans. He came out of nowhere to get that victory over the New Yorker.

The organizers of Saturday’s event should have anticipated Fierro’s weight problems. He’d looked ghastly at the weigh-in for his previous fight against Pitbull Cruz last February. You could tell from looking at Fierro (23-3-2, 18 KOs) that his days as a 140-pounder were near the end.