LAS VEGAS – Angel Fierro was just the type of opponent Isaac Cruz needed to stand in front of him in the fight after his loss to Jose Valenzuela.

Cruz, nicknamed “Pitbull,” shined on his way to unanimously out-pointing Fierro in a brutal battle of Mexican warriors on the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jr. pay-per-view undercard at T-Mobile Arena. A bullish Cruz got off to a blistering start, which made it seem as though he would become the first opponent to defeat Fierro by knockout or technical knockout.

Fierro displayed a granite chin, however, mounted enough offense of his own after getting off to a slow start and made their fan-friendly slugfest competitive. Judges Eric Cheeks (98-92), Don Trella (97-93) and Steve Weisfeld (96-94) scored eight, seven and six rounds respectively for Cruz in a certain candidate for “Fight of the Year.”

Mexico City’s Cruz (27-3-1, 18 KOs) and Tijuana’s Fierro (23-3-2, 18 KOs) hugged each other in a genuine display of appreciation after ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. revealed the decision. Both boxers were proud to have honored the memory of late Mexican legend Israel Vasquez, for whom the WBC made an honorary belt it awarded to Cruz.

“I’m so happy that I gave the fans a great fight with a lot of pressure like I always do,” Cruz said. “And I’m proud to do it with my family here watching. … Fierro deserves all the respect in the world, and I take my hat off to him. Thank you to all the fans who came to support me, because that’s who I fight for.”

Cruz, 27, bounced back after losing the WBA super lightweight title to Valenzuela (14-2, 9 KOs), a Mexican southpaw who beat him by split decision on the Terence Crawford-Israil Madrimov undercard August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Fierro, 26, had lost only a pair of decisions to Alfredo Santiago and Alex Martin before Cruz defeated him.

“I came here to give the fans a great fight and leave it all in the ring,” Fierro said. “I don’t care about the judges – I care about the fans. But I do hope that ‘Pitbull’ gives me a rematch, because I think I deserve it.”

At the urging of ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr., the crowd stood on its feet before the 10th round began and applauded Cruz and Fierro. They promptly delivered another round for the ages before the final bell sounded.

Fierro’s right hands stopped Cruz in his tracks toward the end of the ninth round. There was a point in the final 30 seconds of that round when they wowed an appreciative crowd by blasting each other with power punches.

Fierro and Cruz traded hard punches on the inside throughout an action-packed eighth round. Their mutual respect was obvious as Cruz and Fierro headed back to their corners after another round in which neither fighter

Cruz’s left hook backed up Fierro toward the end of a seventh round that included a little less action than each of the first six rounds.

A right hand by Cruz knocked Fierro backward with about 1:15 to go in the sixth round, which featured Fierro and Cruz trading hard punches

Huggins warned Cruz for a low blow with 1:47 on the clock in the fifth round. Cruz later trapped Fierro in a neutral corner and unloaded right hands on him.

Two right hands by Cruz backed up Fierro at different points of the fourth round. Huggins called for a brief break in the action with 1:40 to go in the fourth round because an accidental clash of heads affected Fierro.

Fierro managed to avoid more of Cruz’s punches during the first half of the third round than he did during the first or second round. Cruz and Fierro bombarded each other with power punches throughout the second half of the third round, the very early frontrunner for “Round of the Year.”

Fierro appeared to stun a briefly fatigued Cruz later in the third round and capitalized by blasting his usually relentless opponent with power shots of his own.

After a successful first round, Cruz resumed his assault on Fierro as soon as the second round began. He pressured Fierro, unloaded hard right hands and left hooks to his head.

The brave Fierro tried trading with the hard-hitting Cruz, but his punches had a lot less effect on his aggressive opponent than Cruz’s thudding shots.

Cruz cracked Fierro with a straight right that knocked him backward just before the midway mark of the opening round. Fierro tried to fight back, but Cruz clearly was faster and had heavier hands.

Cruz connected with three hard right hands within the first 20 seconds of their bout, which made Fierro move backward.