On August 10, 1992, a 28-year-old Steve Cruz (35-7, 19 KOs) and Yuji Watanabe met in the ring.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 2-fight losing streak with a 45% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 3 months and 16 days.
Steve Cruz lost to Yuji Watanabe via KO in the 2nd round, and adds a loss to his record at 35-8.
On April 25, 1992, a 28-year-old Steve Cruz (35-6, 19 KOs) got a shot at the featherweight WBC title held by 26-year-old English boxer Paul Hodkinson (19-1-1, 18 KOs).
Cruz came in to the fight on a 1-fight losing streak with a 46% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 year and 25 days. Hodkinson was on a 2-fight win streak with a 85% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 5 months and 12 days.
Paul Hodkinson made easy work of Steve Cruz, stopping the challenger via TKO in the 3rd. Hodkinson improves his record to 20-1-1 (19 KOs), while Cruz adds a loss to his record at 35-7.
On March 31, 1991, a 27-year-old Steve Cruz (35-5, 19 KOs) and a 19-year-old Mexican boxer Rafael Ruelas (24-0, 19 KOs) met in the ring in a featherweight bout.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 1-fight win streak with a 47% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months and 6 days. Ruelas was on a 24-fight win streak with a 79% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 1 month and 5 days.
Rafael Ruelas stopped Steve Cruz via KO in the 3rd round. Ruelas improves his record to 25-0 (20 KOs), while Cruz adds a loss to his record at 35-6.
On July 8, 1990, a 26-year-old Steve Cruz (34-4, 19 KOs) and a 19-year-old Mexican boxer Manuel Medina (35-3, 19 KOs) met in the ring.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 1-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 6 months. Medina was on a 6-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 1 month and 17 days.
Manuel Medina defeated Steve Cruz via unanimous decision in the 10-round fight. Medina improves his record to 36-3, while Cruz adds a loss to his record at 34-5.
On August 6, 1989, a 25-year-old Steve Cruz (33-3, 18 KOs) got a shot at the featherweight IBF title held by 23-year-old Mexican boxer Jorge Páez (28-2-2, 23 KOs).
Cruz came in to the fight on a 5-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 23 days. Páez was on a 0-fight win streak with a 71% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 16 days.
Jorge Páez defeated Steve Cruz via unanimous decision and successfully defended his IBF featherweight title. Páez improves his record to 29-2-2, while Cruz adds a loss to his record at 33-4.
On December 18, 1987, a 24-year-old Steve Cruz (28-2, 14 KOs) and Jeff Franklin met in the ring.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 1-fight win streak with a 46% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 2 days.
Steve Cruz lost to Jeff Franklin via unanimous decision in the 10-round fight, and adds a loss to his record at 28-3.
On March 6, 1987, the 23-year-old WBA and The Ring featherweight world champion, Steve Cruz (27-1, 13 KOs), faced Antonio Esparragoza, in a title defense fight.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 8-fight win streak with a 46% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 3 months and 13 days.
Steve Cruz was defending his featherweight WBA and The Ring titles against Antonio Esparragoza and lost via TKO in the 12th round, and adds a loss to his record at 27-2.
On March 29, 1984, a 20-year-old Steve Cruz (19-0, 10 KOs) and Lenny Valdez met in the ring.
Cruz came in to the fight on a 19-fight win streak with a 52% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 1 month and 8 days.
Steve Cruz lost to Lenny Valdez via TKO in the 1st round, and adds a loss to his record at 19-1.