Lightweight competition Andy Cruz will fight Omar Omar Salcid Gamez on January 25th. Cuban 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) continues to gain experience for a possible world title shot against one of the 2025 lightweight champions.
Salcido (20-1, 14 KOs) is coming off a surprising ninth-round knockout victory over former hotshot Chris Colbert on Oct. 16. That fight showed that Salcido would be a top lightweight threat, and it says a lot that Cruz was ready to fight him.
Lance Pugmire – @pugboking – reports on the Cruz vs Saldido fight on January 25th.
The boxing public wants to see Cruz moved faster by his promoter, Eddie Hearn, who fights against the top 135-pounders, but that’s not going to happen. Cruz is in the “who needs him” club because he’s too talented for his own good and doesn’t have the popularity needed to lure top names. He can’t even get fighters like Keishavn Davis to fight him, and he’s unpopular.
It will be interesting to see how Cruz performs against Mexican slugger Salcido. Cruz’s trainer, Derek ‘Bozzie’ Ennis, encouraged him to be more offensive to entertain the fans as he began his career using his amateur style, which was very successful in posting a 135-9 record.
However, that style is boring, and Cruz would find himself in the same boat as Shakur Stevenson, who would be booed by fans if he stuck with that approach.
Cruz’s professional record:
– Antonio Moran: TKO 7
– Brian Zamaripa Rodriguez: UD 10
– Giovanni Strafon: KO 3
– Juan Carlos Burgos: UD 10
Cruz’s fight with Moran took place on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israel Madrimov on Aug. 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. In the fight with Moran, Cruz looked significantly smaller than him and was buzzed at one point when he went in for a big punch. However, after his trainer Bozie Ennis encouraged Cruz to go on the offensive, he wore down Moran and knocked him out in the seventh round. The forward pressure Cruz put on Moran was too much for him.