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 an 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 an 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 an 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 an loss to his record at 19-1.