By Sean Jones: Eddie Hearn is convinced that his recent signee 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz from Cuba can beat superstar Gervonta Davis in his first fight as a professional if given a chance.
Some people believe Hearn is trying to build Cruz into a star on the cheap, using name-dropping of talented fighters like Gervonta, Devin Haney, and Keyshawn Davis to make the Cuban a household name without putting him in with them and watching him likely lose.
So what Hearn is doing by mentioning Cruz with proven fighters like Tank is a textbook example of a sly promoter using name-dropping to build his fighter without having him climb the ranks in a traditional manner through hard work and possibly coming up short.
It’s sneaky and pathetic, but it works. To be sure, Cruz, with his boring hit & run amateur style, will be utterly overmatched if he fights Tank, but it’ll make money, and that’s what it’s all about.
Hearn will push the 27-year-old Cruz fast, matching him tough immediately to get him a world title shot within four to six fights, similar to what we saw with two-time Olympic gold medalist Vasily Lomachenko.
Cruz was a good amateur but not as talented as some of the other recent Cuban fighters we’ve seen turn pro recently.
It will be a little more difficult for Cruz to follow in Lomachenko’s footsteps because his style is more of a hit & run approach, and his game is more dependent on his hand speed than technical skills.
Although Hearn maintains that Cruz dominated Keyshawn Davis in the amateurs, that’s not how the fights played out. Cruz scored points with single shots, using an amateur style, while Keyshawn landed harder blows.
If those fights were played out in the pro ranks, there’s an excellent chance that Keyshawn would have won them all because his power was far greater than Cruz’s.
Hearn says Andy Cruz beats “any’ 135-pounder
“I believe now, you can beat any 135-pounder in the world,” said Eddie Hearn to Andy Cruz in his conversation on Matchroom Boxing. “Not yet, we’ll take our time. If you work hard, you’ll win everything.”
“That’s why I’m here,” said Andy Cruz.
Hearn could be sadly disappointed because Cruz isn’t in the same league talent-wise as Tank Davis or Shakur Stevenson. Those guys are several levels above, and he’ll never beat them with how he fights.
Hearn should try and convince Cruz to move to super featherweight [130] or to light welterweight [140] because his chances of capturing a belt in one of those two weight classes are better, provided he’s matched well.
I don’t think he beats Regis Prograis or Subriel Matias at 140, and he’d have problems with the power of Emanuel Navarrete & skills of O’Shaquie Foster. Cruz can win a belt if he’s maneuvered around the talented fighters.
It will be difficult for Hearn to move Cruz into a world title shot against WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion Gervonta as fast as he’d like because these things take time, and Tank is with PBC.
In an ideal situation, Cruz will get a title shot against WBA champion Tank Davis within three years, but that will depend on the Cuban fighter beating some killers like Shakur Stevenson and Frank Martin.
Based on the many fights I’ve seen of Cruz from his amateur days, he’ll lose to Shakur & Martin unless he makes dramatic improvements in his weak power and a bad habit of running around the ring instead of standing his ground.
In the pro ranks, you can’t run and expect the judges to give him a decision based on landing with the white tips of his gloves the way they do to score points in the amateur game.
Cruz to be active this year
“I think he’ll box two or three times this year,” said Hearn to Boxing News about the 27-year-old. “Four, five, six fights max before he fights for a world title. He can beat those guys now, honestly.
“I would put him in with Tank now, and I rate these guys unbelievably. It’s so good to have a talent that you know can mix it with them.
“I saw him beat Keyshawn Davis easily. He’s going to start at ten rounds in July. The way that it’s been received by the boxing community, he’s like a god.”
Unfortunately, amateur boxing is a different sport, and many fighters who excel in that arena do poorly as professionals. The ones that do well generally are fighters with power, which Cruz lacks.
