Lightweight contender Andy Cruz will fight Omar Omar Salcido Gamez on January 25th. The 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) continues gaining 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 former highly hyped Chris Colbert on October 16th. That fight showed that Salcido would be a threat to the top lightweights, and it says a lot that Cruz was willing to fight him.
Lance Pugmire – @pugboxing – is reporting the Cruz vs. Saldido fight on January 25th.
The boxing public wants to see Cruz moved faster by his promoter, Eddie Hearn, put in against the top 135-pounders, but that won’t 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 the top names. He can’t even get fighters like Keyshawn Davis to fight him, and he’s unpopular.
It’ll be interesting to see how Cruz does against the Mexican slugger Salcido. Cruz’s trainer, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, pushed him to be more offensive-minded to entertain fans because he had started his career using his amateur style, which had been 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 fans would boo if he stuck with that approach.
Cruz’s pro record:
– Antonio Moran: TKO 7
– Brayan Zamarripa Rodriguez: UD 10
– Jovanni Straffon: KO 3
– Juan Carlos Burgos: UD 10
Cruz’s fight with Moran took place on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Israil Madrimov on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. In the Moran fight, Cruz looked considerably smaller than him and was buzzed at one point when he walked into a big shot. However, after his trainer Bozy Ennis encouraged Cruz to go on the attack, he wore down Moran, and knocked him out in the seventh round. The forward pressure that Cruz put on Moran was too much for him.