Andy Cruz landed a hard jab behind Rostislav Sabadash as the timer rang to start the third round.
The sabadash was tall and bulky and was going backwards. Cuban boxer Cruz, who won lightweight gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, thumped him with two more long lefts.
Cruz is one of the most accomplished fighters ever to emerge from Cuba’s famous boxing program. In addition to his Olympic gold medal, he has won three amateur world titles and has won the Pan American Games twice. But in mid-May, Cruise arrived in northeastern Philadelphia to learn how to box like a pro. He will make his professional debut on July 15 in Detroit in a 10-round bout against a beefy veteran named Juan Carlos Burgos.
Cruz landed two more jabs and a right cross. Cruz’s manager, Jolfri Sanchez, watched the sparring session from ringside. His head coach, Derek Ennis, nicknamed Bozzie, was sitting on the apron. Sanchez hired Ennis to replace Cruise’s amateur habits with professional techniques. These include striking with authority, maintaining range, and catching and countering punches.
Another Cruz’s right-hand man started a heated exchange. Ennis held the gym’s new star on the reins.
“That’s not what you want to do,” said Ennis. “Whoever is bigger than you, just stand there and don’t run into him. Be smart.”
Cruz’s boxing IQ, along with his speed and timing, helped many observers consider him the best Cuban boxer of his generation. Discord with the Cuban Boxing Federation caused him to leave Cuba last year, making it cruise boxing’s most high-profile free agent and most intriguing prospect.
Cruise signed a three-year deal with Matchroom Boxing in May that guaranteed a seven-figure payout, but Cruise backers believe he will dominate the talented lightweight division by next summer. But his professional success will depend on how well Cruz adapts to both new countries and new versions of the sport he’s grown accustomed to.
“Training is good, but we have to fight,” he said in Spanish after the sparring session. “I’m nervous. I’m looking forward to it. I like working under pressure. That’s when you get the most out of me.”
Cruz speaks very little English, and Ennis speaks even less Spanish. Sanchez translates and so does your smartphone. But Cruz is no stranger to punishment. Boxing database BoxRec credits him. 140 amateur wins. He acted immediately on Ennis’ advice.
pivot. right cross. uppercut.
Both punches connected.
“That’s it!” Sanchez shouted in Spanish.
Cruz first made headlines in the United States in July 2021, when he danced in the ring to celebrate his Olympic gold medal as silver medalist Keyshawn Davis of the United States graced the stands in front of television cameras. rice field.Rapper Snoop Dogg and comedian Kevin Hart parodied the moment for laughs in a widely watched video clipBut boxing enthusiasts took note of the results.
Davis has a good reputation as an amateur and is currently Lightweight fighter on the riseAnd Cruz surpassed him, but it wasn’t the first time. Cruz is 4-0 against Davis.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Matchroom Sports president Eddie Hearn. “It may sound cheesy, but it was like watching an artist paint a picture. I was fascinated by how easily he defeated the best amateur in the world. I didn’t expect to sign him at all, because I didn’t expect much to become.”
Javelin Thrower Iselena Barral Rojas abandoned the national team last summer During a layover in Miami en route to the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Tokyo Olympic discus bronze medalist Yaime Perez said: left the miami team After the world championship.
And Yoenlis Hernández, the only Cuban boxer to win gold at the World Amateur Championships in May, left the team on the way home from the competition and sneaked away during a stop in Panama.
Cruz claims he would have remained in Cuba if he hadn’t been kicked out of the pro team.
“I was very disappointed,” said Cruz, who turns 28 in August. “I wanted to get away from here in one way or another.”
Last June, as part of a perilous plan to leave Cuba by boat, Cruz traveled from his home in Matanzas, 105 miles east of Havana, to the seaside city of More in the eastern state of Holguín. He fell asleep at the home of the man who organized the trip and was awakened by the sound of police handcuffing him. After four days in custody, Cruz was allowed to return to Matanzas, but was permanently barred from the Cuban national team and banned from the country’s boxing gyms.
For the next four months, training meant shadow boxing and an hour of running every afternoon. Cross-training meant playing pick-up soccer. Without a monthly varsity stipend (10,000 Cuban pesos, about $400), Cruz ran out of money.
With no income and no prospect of professional boxing, Cruz said he was thinking of selling peanuts for a living. At least that way he’ll be able to monetize his success in boxing. Which vendor to choose from, why not buy from Olympic champions?
“I was a little scared that the door to leaving the country would be closed and I would lose my career,” Cruz said. “The six months in Cuba were hell in the sense that I wasn’t doing what I was most passionate about, what I loved most: boxing.”
Speculation about Cruz’s future circulated throughout the summer, eventually reaching Sanchez, a baseball agent based in the Dominican Republic who specializes in Cuban prospects. Sanchez wanted the boxer to be able to leave Cuba legally, and worked with Cruz to arrange the necessary paperwork.
By November last year, Cruz had a passport and a one-way ticket to Santo Domingo.
Cruise arrived on November 5, 2022, wearing a white Stephen Curry jersey and a big smile. He weighed 152 pounds, 17 pounds over the lightweight limit of 135, but he had lost some of his muscle since winning the Olympics.
“He was smaller than I imagined,” Sanchez said. “I thought he was bigger.”
From there, Cruise’s lawyers in the United States worked on the visas Cruise needed to live and train in the country, while Sanchez and his US-based manager, Jesse Rodriguez, negotiated with promoters. By early May, Cruise had secured both a visa and a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing.
Cruise heads to Philadelphia, where he trains with Ennis alongside his coach’s son, welterweight contestant Jaron Ennis, boxing most of the afternoon and working on strength and conditioning at night. When Cruz isn’t practicing, he often parks in front of the TV in the extended-stay hotel room he shares with Sanchez and plays MLB “The Show 23.”
Cruz sent his mother a new iPhone for Rodriguez’s trip to Cuba. Cruz asked Rodriguez to bring home an Olympic gold medal and a container of ground peanuts. He said he missed Cuban food, but more than that, he missed his family. A keepsake would remind him of both.
“I’ve never been away from them for such a long time,” he said of his parents, brother and one-year-old son. “They were witnesses to everything that happened to me. They knew I had no choice but to leave.”
Cruz spent the final four rounds of sparring sessions coaching local prospect Ángel Pizarro. Cruz is leaner, stronger and 10 pounds lighter than when he left Cuba. After a sharp jab and a hard right hand, Pizarro smiled and nodded, acknowledging Cruz’s new muscles.
“He’s a bully!” Pizarro shouted to the crowd around the ring.
Ennis said his goal wasn’t to turn Cruz into a power puncher like Mike Tyson, but to add pro-style strength to the speed and savvy that made Cruz the great amateur.
“I’m not taking anything away. I’m just adding and polishing and teaching him my style,” Ennis said. “Grab his right hand, left hook. Counter-attack while being shot. That’s what I make him do.”
Hahn said Cruz is already poised to beat the lightweight elite, including ticket sales knockout artist Garbonta Davis. Shakur Stevenson, 2016 Olympic runner-up. And the undisputed champion, Devin Haney.A future matchup with Keyshawn Davis is natural – the two are shot each other that’s all Social media since last spring.
But his first opponent is Burgos, a stubborn gatekeeper with a record of 35-7-3, including a decision loss to Haney and Keyshawn Davis.
While most professional debuts are scheduled for four or six rounds, Cruz’s fight against Burgos is a 10-round deal. The length of the bout is evidence that promoters and regulators already consider Cruz a veteran.
And it shows Cruz believes he can quickly climb to the top of professional boxing, even after a few failed starts.
“I want to win every game, I want to win every belt,” Cruz said. “I want to do what I’ve done in amateur boxing. I’ve had a great career and I think I can repeat it.”
