Lightweight contender Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) is hoping to land some big fights in 2025 following his one-sided 10-round unanimous decision win over Omar Salido (20-2, 14 KOs) at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas last Saturday. Night.
(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)
Cruz dominates
Cruz’s trainer, Derek “Boosie” Ennis, wanted to go all out for the knockout after repeatedly hurting Salido in the eighth round, but he couldn’t do it. He won 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92. The judges were kind enough to give Salido no rounds because he didn’t seem to win any. It should have been 100-90 x 3.
Cruz’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, was short on details afterward about who he might fight next. He has mentioned going the IBF route, but that doesn’t seem like a possibility for Andy to get a title shot in 2025.
Ideally, Hearn would like to face Cruz against Keshawn Davis, but he’s not interested at all. Keshawn made an appearance last night, but he will likely only be viewed as a fighter linked to rising Cuban star Andy Cruz in the amateur ranks.
“If I gave a mark on my performance, I would say it was good, but you can always improve,” Andy Cruz said. Social boxingHe evaluated his performance in his one-sided victory over Omar Salcedo last Saturday night.
I did my best in the fight, but it was against a good, strong opponent. “He was looking for the knockout early because he knew that given my abilities, there was no way he would be able to beat me on points,” Cruz continued.
“So, what I did was I realized I was a lot faster than him. He was a lot slower than me. So I went out, took advantage of that speed, and almost got him out of there in the end.”
The fight was a mismatch, as Salido was not in the same league as Andy Cruz, and that was evident from the start of the fight. Salido was preparing for every shot from the start, looking to score the knockout because he clearly knew that his only way to victory was luck. This is how he fought in his previous fight against Chris Colbert on October 16. He was putting maximum power into every shot, which eventually paid off with his ninth knockout win.
“I think it’s important for you to do that because you have to look at a lot of different ways,” Cruz said. “You’re facing a lot of different fighters and a lot of tough opponents. So, you’re facing a lot of different situations in the ring, and you have to be prepared to understand what you’re doing in those situations.”
“What I have to do is work hard to be accurate and quick, but also step in and fight in that way to do what I need to do.
Kishon’s bitterness
“I went there, because he is my son. I wanted to give him a big hug, but I was rejected. I don’t know if he’s angry with me“But hopefully we can work out our differences in the future the next time we meet,” Cruz said of being rejected by Keshawn Davis when he tried to hug him last Saturday following his win over Salcedo at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Keshawn Davis is still bitter about his four losses to Cruz in the amateur division and the difficult time boxing fans face. From the way Keshawn talks, it sounds like he considers himself a star who doesn’t need to fight risky battles.
He had never fought anyone yet to have that kind of high profile for himself, and he entered the professional world after falling short against Cruz in the amateur division. He wouldn’t dare fight Cruz and have him ruin his chance of making easy money.
“What I need to do now is enjoy this victory and keep doing what I’m doing, which is keep progressing and getting better with every fighter. I’m having a tougher fight with every fighter. What I can say is that 2025 is going to be very interesting,” Cruz said.
Hearn options
What will be interesting to see is if promoter Eddie Hearn can hook Andy Cruz with a world title shot in 2025 because the chances of him getting a shot against these three fighters are non-existent:
-Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Keyshawn Davis
None of these fighters have expressed interest in fighting Andy Cruz, and that is unlikely to change in 2026. Cruz is very good. It will take Turki Al-Sheikh to convince one of these fighters to agree to fight him.
Crews can always rely on sanctioning bodies to order a fight, but as we’ve seen with them, champions can beat down dangerous mandatory challengers for years. Boxing needs to change to prevent champions from avoiding their rivals because it is detrimental to the sport.
