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Andy Cruz was invariably ready for the pro games, but making the jump was always going to be difficult.
We’ve all heard the stories of Cuban born fighters doing their best to defect before being eventually nabbed. Yordenis Ugas, in 2010, finally made his way stateside after six failed attempts, all resulting in prison stints. Cruz’s story is similar, maybe not to that extreme, but breaking away from Cuba was a process.
As soon as his feet touched American soil, Cruz inked a promotional agreement with Eddie Hearn and subsequently made his pro debut. His amateur record was ridiculous, racking up 140 wins and just nine defeats. Along the way, Cruz defeated Keyshawn Davis four times and grabbed Olympic gold in 2020.
Hearn wasn’t interested in putting training wheels on Cruz. So instead, he placed him in the ring with a durable journeyman, Juan Carlos Burgos. Countless names in the lightweight division flicked on their television sets to take a good look at their newest competition. Amongst them, was Shakur Stevenson.
Burgos proved that he could take a shot but outside of a granite chin, he had nothing to offer Cruz in the ring as he won virtually every round.
After paying close attention, Stevenson had no choice but to give Cruz his props.
“He can fight for sure,” said Stevenson on his social media account after Cruz’s win.
Hearn has praised Cruz as a boxing savant. He flummoxed Burgos with constant angles on the offensive end and took his well-known defensive skills to another level on the night. Stevenson couldn’t find a bad word to say about the lightweight prospect. According to the former two-division champion, Cruz is the real deal and the lightweight landscape should be keeping an eye on him.
“He understands boxing and put up a solid performance.”