By Jake Tiernan: Former Cuban amateur star Andy Cruz (1-0) won his pro debut last Saturday night, putting in a workmanlike performance beating 35-year-old ring veteran Juan Carlos Burgos by a ten-round unanimous decision that put a smile on his promoter Eddie Hearn’s face at the Masonic Temple in Detroit.
Cruz won the fight by the scores 100-90, 100-90, and 98-92. The 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz played it safe, hitting & moving away in a safety-first manner all night.
Burgos exposed Cruz’s weakness
When Burgos would hit him in the breadbasket with punches, he clearly showed that he does not like it.
The veteran Burgos exposed Cruz’s weakness by hitting him to the body, and he was able to get him to back off each time he was under attack.
Each time Burgos hit Cruz to the body, the reaction was noticeable, with the former Cuban amateur star backing off like he’d received a powerful jolt of 250 volts of electricity.
Obviously, if Cruz can’t even handle body shots from an old-timer like Burgos, how on earth is he going to deal with getting hit to the body by guys like Isaac Cruz, Keyshawn Davis, Vasily Lomachenko, or Shakur Stevenson?
For the most part, Cruz fought like he was still in the amateurs, focusing on throwing point-scoring punches with little power to the head of the slow-moving, slow-punching Burgos (35-8-3, 21 KOs).
After the fight, Hearn was in loser denial, unwilling to admit that Cruz didn’t look like the future star in the lightweight division he thought he would when he inked him to his Matchroom stable.
The way Cruz performed, he looked like an ordinary fringe-level contender, but not one of the top ten that inhabit the treacherous waters of the top five in the 135-lb division.
It was very dull to watch, as Cruz doesn’t possess an entertaining, fan-pleasing style like other lightweights in the division, like these fighters:
– Shakur Stevenson
– Gervonta Davis
– Vasily Lomachenko
– Isaac Cruz
– Keyshawn Davis
– Raymond Muratalla
– George Kambosos Jr
Is Andy Cruz really 28?
Although listed at 28, Cruz looks closer to 35 years old, and he might not have more than a year or two before he’s too old to do anything in the lightweight division.
Cruz looked the same age as the 35-year-old Burgos last night, and that was the thing that stuck out. Yeah, Andy had the speed, but physically, no difference in how they looked.
If anything, Burgos looked like the younger guy, and if that is the reality, Cruz could be as old as 37, which is bad news for Hearn because it would mean that he’s going to have to throw him in the deep end of the lightweight division right away rather than waiting three to five years.
If Cruz is older than 28, perhaps as old as 34 or 35, Hearn is going to need to move him at warp speed to take advance of the small window he has to do anything before he’s
Reaction to Andy Cruz criticism
“You look at Twitter. ‘Andy Cruz is a little bit boring.’ Lou Dibella is out there going, ‘Not for me, not my cup of tea.‘ If you had the chance to sign him, you would sign him, wouldn’t you?” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about his new addition to the Matchoom Boxing stable, 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz following his pro debut last Saturday night against Juan Carlos Burgos.
Instead of Hearn reacting with annoyance at the criticism of Andy Cruz on social media, he needs to admit to himself that it’s 100% valid.
You hate to say it, but Cruz is boring to watch, and he doesn’t have the kind of pro style that makes you want to watch him fight. Cruz was a successful fighter in the amateur ranks but far from unbeatable at 140-9 with only 10 KOs.
The guys that Cruz beat in the amateurs were primarily fighters that lack the talent to be top professional fighters. The only one Cruz beat with pro talent is Keyshawn Davis, who barely won those matches.
“Andy Cruz has just had his professional debut; he’s boxed a 10-rounder. He’s gone ten rounds with Burgos in an all-action fight, he’s hardly got hit, he’s won every round, his movement, his shot selection, he hurt Burgos, and he was aggressive. All of these things,” said Hearn sounding like a used car salesman trying to convince a buyer to purchase an old car with 300,000 miles on the odometer.
“Imagine if he’d gone out there in a six-rounder tonight against a muppet. Imagine the abuse you’d get and the stick. You can’t win either way,” said Hearn.
“This kid is an outstanding talent. I think it was a great performance, and those ten rounds under his belt will mean that he can move forward to a tougher fight next time. I thought it was a great performance.”
Hearn will need to overpay
Whether he likes it or not, Hearn is going to have to move Andy Cruz a lot faster than he would have liked if he wants to get him a title shot before he’s too old to do anything in the lightweight division.
Hearn will need to overspend by making a huge money offer if he wants to set up a fight between Cruz with any of the top guys in the 135-lb division.
No other promoter will willingly put their fighter in with a pure boxer like Cruz because he will be looking to win a decision, and he won’t be there to be hit.
Those kinds of fighters are avoided, as we see with Shakur Stevenson, a far better version of Andy Cruz. The good news is Hearn has the deep pockets to overpay top fighters to face Cruz, but it’s unclear whether he’ll want to do this.
If Hearn thinks that the top promoters will agree to let their fighters face Cruz for the heck of it, he’s dreaming. It’s never going to happen, and Cruz will be too old and infirm soon for him to be worth anything to Hearn if he doesn’t open his wallet to overpay for opponents.
“It’s life, mate. We live in a world of opinions,” said Hearn when asked why Andy Cruz is receiving criticism from boxing fans, and everybody has got an opinion.
“These people deserve an opinion, that’s what the platforms are for, and everyone has got their different opinions, but I think sometimes they’re not even valid or neutral. That’s the difference.
“When you actually break it down and realize what Andy Cruz has actually done tonight, this kid is going to be an outstanding fighter,” said a worked-up Hearn.
Eddie sounds deluded here, magnifying Cruz’s win over thee journeyman Burgos and making it seem like he beat an elite-level fighter instead of an old veteran.