Cuban star Andy Cruz was content to go 10 rounds in just his third pro fight, following a one-sided win over Brayan Zamarripa.
Former Olympic champion Cruz, who defeated Keyshawn Davis in the final of the Tokyo games, did not rule out a future fight between them in the aftermath of the Zamarripa victory.
“Whether we face each other completely depends upon Keyshawn Davis,” said Cruz, who is now 3-0 (1 KO), through a translator. “I’m progressing. I’m doing well. I’m doing what I can to do best but he has to go on and show he’s one of the best so it completely depends on him as to whether we will face each other in the future.”
Cruz defeated Mexican southpaw Zamarripa 100-90 across the board, and the 28-year-old was pleased with how he performed.
“I’m very happy,” said the Cuban. “Because we achieved the overall objective, which was to win. I noticed from the start it was a question of time and I also noted form the beginning that he was there to survive.
“I went in there with my strategy and I wanted to see what kind of strategy he came in with, he had his corner and they would look to do certain things, so what I was doing was trying to work him out through that period, but then what I realized quite quickly is that he wanted to survive and he didn’t want to exchange at any point.”
Cruz is not wasting time and he wants to progress rapidly. Zamarripa is now 14-3 but Cruz has great aspirations and he wants to be back out on the April 20 Brooklyn card starring Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia.
“I want to take gigantic steps, with respect to other boxers, I want to move very quickly given the experience I’ve had in the amateurs so what I want to do is progress as quickly as possible, to show I’m ready for big things in the professional game,” Cruz added.
“I want that [a world title fight] to come sooner than later. I think it’s going really well. Tonight felt like a sparring session in the gym, so I feel I am ready to take on these challenges.”
During the fight, WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson wrote on X: “Andy Cruz is really good… his defense Elite!”
Post-fight, that was put to Cruz who replied: “It makes me very happy to hear of the comments of boxers of the caliber of Shakur praising my defense, it shows I’m on the path I want to take to become a legend in the sport.
“I wanted to come into the professional game and show I can box at any distance, I’m very versatile and I wanted to show the doubters I can go on and do good things in my professional career.”