Lightweight contender Andy Cruz will fight Omar Omar Salcido Gamez on January 25th. 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) continues to gain experience for a possible world title shot against one of the lightweight champions in 2025.
Salcido (20-1, 14 KOs) is coming off a surprise ninth-round knockout win over veteran Chris Colbert on Oct. 16. This fight showed that Salcido would be a threat at lightweight, and it says a lot that Cruz was willing to fight.
Lance Pugmire – @pugboxing – is representing the Cruz vs. Saldido fight on January 25th.
The boxing public wants to see Cruz move faster than his promoter, Eddie Hearn, put him against the top 135-pounders, but that is not going to happen. Cruz is in the “club that needs him” because he is too talented for his own good and does not have the necessary popularity to attract the first names. He can’t even get fighters like Keyshawn Davis to fight him, and he’s unpopular.
It will be interesting to see how Cruz does against Mexican slugger Salcido. Cruz’s trainer, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, pushed him to be more offensive to entertain the fans, as he had started his career with his amateur style, which had been very successful in posting a record of 135-9 .
However, this style is boring, and Cruz will find himself in the same boat as Shakur Stevenson, who the fans will hate if he sticks with this approach.
Cruz’s pro record:
– Antonio Moran: TKO 7
– Brayan Zamarripa Rodriguez: UD 10
– Giovanni Straffon: KO 3
– Juan Carlos Burgos: UD 10
Cruz’s fight with Moran takes place on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov on August 3rd at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. In the Moran fight, Cruz looked much smaller than him and was buzzed at one point when he went for a big shot. However, after his trainer Bozy Ennis encouraged Cruz to go on the attack, he brought in Moran, and knocked him out in the seventh round. The forward pressure Cruz put on Moran was too much for him.
