Steve "Stevie" Cruz (born November 2, 1963) is a retired American professional boxer who became the WBA World Featherweight Champion on June 23, 1986.
Using hard rights, body shots, and an explosive left jab, Cruz sent Cordova to the mat three times in the bout and gave him a considerable beating.
[7] Two months earlier, on September 25, 1985, Cordova had unexpectedly lost to Baby Joe Ruelaz, having had trouble making weight and needing to lose eight pounds quickly.
Cruz won the World Boxing Association (WBA) and lineal featherweight title by defeating Barry McGuigan on June 23, 1986 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in a 15-round unanimous decision before 10,200 fans.
[12] Cruz received some training guidance for the bout with McGuigan from Don Gorman, who had him spar with one of his trainees, Troy Dorsey, future 1991 International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Featherweight Champion.
[1] Cruz lost the Featherweight Championship in his first defense to Venezuelan Antonio Esparragoza, the number one-rated challenger, at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth on March 6, 1987 in a twelfth-round technical knockout (TKO).
[15] On June 14, 1988, Cruz took the World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental America's Featherweight title against Alfred Rangel in a fifth-round technical knockout at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
On May 14, 1989, he defeated future champion Tracy Harris Patterson in a ten-round split decision at the Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
[16] Cruz challenged for the IBF Featherweight title on August 6, 1989 by taking on Jorge Páez, but lost in a twelfth-round unanimous decision in El Paso, Texas.
[17] On March 31, 1991, Cruz took on Rafael Ruelas at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas before a crowd of 800 in a North American Boxing Federation (NABF) title match, losing by knockout 57 seconds into the third round.
[18] On April 25, 1992, Cruz took on WBC featherweight title holder English boxer Paul Hodkinson, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but lost by a TKO in the 3rd.
[20][21] After a second-round knockout loss to Yuji Wantanabe in Tokyo, Japan on August 10, 1992, Cruz won two more bouts, with Vicent Castillo and Robert Challa in Fort Worth, before retiring in December 1993.