He still hasn’t thrown his first punch as a professional, but the Cuban boxer Andy Cruzwhose debut is scheduled for next month, has boxing connoisseurs in the United States salivating with delight.
The Tokyo Olympic lightweight champion is preparing to take one of the most competitive divisions in existence by storm and the American press is already taking note of it.
The influential newspaper The New York Times dedicated an extensive report to him, after visiting his training camp in Philadelphia.
There he prepares under the orders of coach Derek Ennis, for his debut on July 15 in Detroit against the experienced Mexican Juan Carlos Burgos, a 35-year-old man who has 35 wins, seven losses and three draws.
According to the NYT, with his boxing intelligence, speed and timing, Cruz is perhaps the best Cuban fighter of his generation.
Last year he left the island, after a disagreement with the Cuban Boxing Federation, with which he became the most controversial free agent in boxing and its most intriguing prospect, according to the New York newspaper.
In May he signed a three-year deal with Matchroom Boxing, which will guarantee him a seven-figure payout, while his backers believe that by next summer, the West Indian will dominate the lightweight division, packed with talented fighters.
Of course, your professional success will depend on how well you adapt, both to the training methods and competition of professionalism, and to life in your new country.
Professional scouts first set their sights on Cruz after his victory over American Keyshawn Davis in the Olympic final in the Japanese capital.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Eddie Hearn, president of Matchroom Sport, told The New York Times.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but it was like watching an artist draw a painting. He was mesmerized by the ease with which he beat the best amateurs in the world. Honestly, I never thought I would sign him, because you don’t really expect Cuban fighters to become professionals,” Hearn added.
The Cuban is considered so advanced that his debut against Burgos was agreed for ten rounds, when the normal thing is that the first professional bouts vary between four and six rounds.
It will be the first step on the path where, among others, the renowned Gervonta Davis and Shakur Stevenson await him, until he reaches Devin Haney, the undisputed champion of the division.
But Cruz arrives hungry. “I want to win all my fights, win all the belts. I want to do what I did in amateur boxing. I had a great career and I think I can repeat it,” the Cuban told the NYT.
