Andy Cruz vs Antonio Moran Preview August 3rd, 2024
2021 Olympic lightweight gold medalist Andy Cruz of Cuba fights for the fourth time as a pro when he takes on Antonio Moran of Mexico City this Saturday, August 3rd. The 10-round tilt from Los Angeles, California is for Cruz’s IBF International Lightweight Title and can be seen live in most nations on pay-per-view including DAZN and ESPN. Cruz last fought in February when he beat Brayan Zamarripa via a 10-round unanimous decision while Moran last saw action in January when he halted Romero Duno in the sixth round. The fight is on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov fight.
Cruz vs Moran Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Antonio Moran +1200
- Andy Cruz -3300
My Pick
The 28-year-old Cruz reportedly went 140-9 as an amateur star with 10 Ko’s. He captured gold medals at the 2017 Pan American Championships; the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games; the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Championships and the Olympics. He’s been training under the tutelage of Derek Ennis and is based in Miami, Florida after inking a three-year deal with Matchroom Boxing. Cruz measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 68.5-inch reach.
Cruz possesses excellent speed, timing, ring IQ and jab but isn’t known to be the most powerful puncher out there as he steps into the ring with a mark of 3-0 with 1 Ko and has boxed 23 pro rounds as he beat veteran Juan Carlos Burgos by a 10-round unanimous decision in his pro debut in July, 2023 and captured the vacant IBF International Lightweight Title. He ten stopped Jovanni Straffon in his first defence five months later and shutout Rodriguez in his last fight. Cruz kicked off his pro career by working with Ennis and his son Jaron, the current interim IBF Welterweight champion.
Cruz beat Keyshawn Davis several times as an amateur, usually in gold-medal matches, and also beat Elvis Rodriguez on several times. In addition, he also competed in the World Series of Boxing a few ral years ago. He’s now hoping to turn his amateur success into a pro world title but after taking on Burgos in his debut he has arguably taken backward steps in quality of opposition since then but at least Moran has taken on some recognizable opponents during his career.
The 31-year-old Moran climbs through the ropes with a 30-6-1 record with 21 Ko’s. He made his pro debut in 2012 and has boxed 189 rounds since. Moran measures 5-feet-11-inches tall with an unlisted reach, so is two inches taller than Cruz. As far as power is concerned, Moran has some pop in his punches as 70 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in four of his last six contests.
Moran’s first defeat came at the hands of Luis Gutierrez on points over 10 rounds in 2014 and he lost an eight-round split decision two years later to Emanuel Lopez. He fought Jose Pedraza in 2018 to defend his Latino Lightweight title but dropped a 10-round unanimous decision and battled Devin Haney in 2019 for the WBC International and WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight titles but was stopped in the seventh round.
He faced Arnold Barboza Jr and dropped a 10-round unanimous decision in 2021 in a shot at the WBO International Super Lightweight Belt and his last defeat came at the hands of Jamaine Ortiz lasty September when he dropped another 10-round unanimous decision. Moran’s lone draw came back in 2019 when he went 10 rounds with Yomar Alamo for the WBO NABO Super Lightweight Belt. Moran did manage to win the vacant WBA Fedecentro Welterweight Title in 2020 when he stopped Luis Solis in the sixth round and defended it by halting Emanuel Colon in the sixth stanza just a month later.
Prediction…
Moran is durable with a pretty good chin even though Cruz isn’t really known for his power but Moran just seems to fall short when taking a step up in class. Cruz is an elite boxer though with plenty of skill, speed and combination punching. Moran should hang in there for a few rounds at least and the fight could even last the distance but he’s not on the same level as Cruz. If Cruz does manage to stop Moran it’ll likely be due to an accumulation of punches rather than a one-shot KO.
Cruz is a class above Moran.
Play Cruz -3300 @ BetOnline.ag
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Andy Cruz betting • Antonio Moran betting