Lightweight contender Andy Cruz fights Omar Salcido this month in a 10-round co-feature clash in an Eddie Hearn-promoted Matchroom card on January 25th at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas. Super middleweight contender Diego Pacheco will fight Steven Nelson in the main event.
‘Diamond’ Andy Cruz (4-0, 2 KOs) is being fast-tracked by Hearn due to his impressive amateur pedigree in Cuba. He captured an Olympic gold medal in 2020, beating U.S. fighter Keyshawn Davis. That was Cruz’s fourth win over Davis, and it was effortless.
Salcido (20-1, 14 KOs) is coming off a big ninth-round knockout win over Chris Colbert on October 16th last year. Colbert was once viewed as a future world champion and star at super featherweight. His career has gone downhill in the previous three years.
Cruz is ranked #4 WBA, #5 WBC, and #6 IBF at lightweight. He must frequently fight against better opposition to get a world title shot soon. None of the top guys want to fight Andy, which is understandable.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn wants to get Cruz a world title shot soon, but it’s going to require him to pay some of the top contenders good money for them to want to take on the talented Cuban. He’s in the ‘who needs him’ club because he’s not popular, and their chance of beating him are slim. Even Keyshawn Davis wants nothing to do with Cruz after losing him four times in the amateurs.
Salcido has good power, and it’ll be interesting to see if Cruz can outbox him like he’s been doing to his opponents. In Cruz’s recent fight against Antonio Moran on August 3rd, he got stunned early with a hard punch from the bigger fighter. Cruz’s trainer, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, encouraged him to go after Moran and slug. That’s not Cruz’s natural style, and he got caught while pressing the bigger fighter.
January 25th Card
Diego Pacheco vs. Steven Nelson
Andy Cruz vs. Omar Salcido
Ernesto Mercado vs. Jose Pedraza
Harley Mederos vs. Arturo de Isla
The brightest of Diamonds 💎@andydiamondcruz takes a massive step up against 20-1 Omar Salcido on Jan 25 in Las Vegas 🔜 #CruzSalcido #PachecoNelson pic.twitter.com/Vw3wP76C0a
— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) January 8, 2025