Is Andy Cruz the most avoided man in box?

Lightweight contender Andy Cruz (5-0, 2 COs) hopes to get some big fights in 2025 after his unilateral unanimous decision of ten round over Omar Salido (20-2, 14 COs) last Saturday at the cosmopolitan of Las Vegas night.

(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)

Cruz dominates

Cruz coach Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis wanted him to knock out everyone after he repeatedly hurt Salido from the eighth round, but he couldn’t. He still won by 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92. The judges were friendly to give Salido any rounds because he did not win any of them. It must have been 100-90 x 3.

Cruz’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, then has short details about who he could fight next. He mentions that the IBF route is going, but it doesn’t look like a possibility for Andy to get a title in 2025.

Ideally, Hearn Cruz wants to match Keyhawn Davis, but he is not interested at all. Keyshawn arrived last night, but probably only to be seen as a fighter associated with the emerging Cuban star Andy Cruz in the amateurs.

“If I were to give a mark for my performance, I would say it was good but you can always improve,” Andy Cruz said Box sociallyJudged his performance in his unilateral victory against Omar Salcido last Saturday night.

I made my maximum effort to fight the fight, but it was against a difficult, good opponent. He was looking for a knockout early because he knew it was an impossibility that he could beat me on points, ”Cruz continued.

“What I did was that I realized that I was much faster than him. He was much slower than me. So, I went out, and I used the speed, and I almost got him away. “

The battle was a mismatch, since Salido was not in the same league as Andy Cruz, and it was clear from the beginning of the fight. Salido was just picking up every shot from the beginning, and looking for a knockout, because he clearly knew that his only path to victory was to be happy. This is how he fought in his previous battle against Chris Colbert on October 16. He placed maximum power in each shot, which eventually paid off for him with a ninth coal victory.

“I think it’s important for you to do this, because you have to look for different ways,” says Cruz. ‘You are facing many different fighters and very strong opponents. So, you are facing many different situations in the ring, and you must be willing to understand what you are doing in those situations.

“What I need to do is work really hard to be exact, fast, but also to go in and fight in this way to go in and do what I need to do.

Keyshawn bitterness

“I went in there, given that he was my son. I wanted to give him a big hug, but I was rejected. I don’t know if he’s upset about meBut hopefully we can reconcile our differences in the future the next time we meet, ”Cruz said he came down by Keyshawn Davis when he tried to embrace him last Saturday after his victory over Salcido in the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas .

Keyshawn Davis is still bitter about his four defeats against Cruz in the amateurs and the difficult time that box fans give him. The way Keyshawn speaks sounds like he sees himself as a star who does not have to have risky battles.

He has not yet fought anyone to have the kind of high view of himself, and he came into the Pros after failing to fail against Cruz in the amateurs. He will not dare to fight against Cruz and let him destroy his chances of making easy money.

“What I have to do now is to enjoy this victory and keep doing what I do, keep moving and progressing with every fighter. I stand in front of a harder battle with every fighter. What I can say is that 2025 will be very, very interesting, ”says Cruz.

Hearn’s options

What will be interesting is to see if promoter Eddie Hearn Andy Cruz can find with a world title shot in 2025, because the chances of getting a shot against these three fighters do not exist:

– Gervonta Davis
– Shakur Stevenson
– Keyshawn Davis

None of these fighters expressed interest in fighting Andy Cruz, and that probably won’t change in 2026. Cruz is too good. It will require Turki al-Sheikh to convince one of these fighters to agree to fight against him.

Cruz can always rely on the sanction bodies to order a fight, but as we saw with them, champions can swing dangerous mandatory challengers for years. Boxing should change to prevent champions from avoiding their contenders because it hurts the sport.