Mexican sluggers Isaac Cruz and Angel Fierro were involved in a civil war on February 1 with Cruz winning a fight of the year contender by close decision, and they will engage in combat once more July 19 in Las Vegas.

Cruz's promoter Sean Gibbons believes the Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) and Fierro (23-3-2, 18 KOs) rivalry can become this generation's Arturo Gatti-Micky Ward. But if you ask "Pitbull" Cruz, the second bout will be a one-sided bite in his favor.

"We're working even harder than last time so we can give Fierro a beatdown on July 19," Cruz said after they had a fiery faceoff. "He wants to piss me off, but I fight with a cool head and hot heart. He's not going to distract me by saying baseless and idiotic things."

The first fight featured 1,410 punches thrown, Cruz landing 248 to Fierro's 238. Cruz believes he can do more damage, even though the fists flew in a fast and furious fashion.

"If other fighters like to lull [opponents] to sleep or bore them, that's on them. It will never be my style," Cruz continued.

"We were kind of lackadaisical the first time around, but that's not happening this time. It's all internal motivation. No pain, just working toward the best possible result. All I'm doing is going from the gym to the house and back.

"My mentality is always to fight like I'm down on the cards, because that brings out the best of me. I was lacking consistency in my pressure in the first fight and letting him think. We have a plan to fix that and implement a wider variety of punches to get the job done."

The conundrum of Cruz's career entails carefully-crafted matchmaking as the 5-foot-4 brawler competes across 135 and 140 pounds.

The undersized yet fan-friendly fighter certainly won't look good against someone like Shakur Stevenson, but he can sizzle against a hard-charger like William Zepeda.

The former 140-pound titleholder Cruz, who holds wins against the likes of Rolando Romero and losses to Gervonta Davis and Jose Valenzuela, realizes that a solid showing against Fierro will equate to a big-money matchup.

"This fight is going to end with me winning in the best way possible," said Cruz. "After that, I would like to face Teofimo Lopez Jr. and Alberto Puello. I would like to stay at 140, but if facing Gervonta Davis requires going down to 135, I have no issues with that either."