Andy Cruz is a celebrated Olympian who was forced into heartbreaking decision for family

When Andy Cruz makes his professional debut, against Juan Carlos Burgos in Detroit, he will perhaps do so under greater scrutiny than any fighter since the great Vasyl Lomachenko.

His promoter Eddie Hearn, who guided Anthony Joshua to a professional world title after watching him become the super-heavyweight champion at London 2012, described him as capable of becoming Matchroom’s ‘biggest signing’.

2

Cruz is Cuba’s celebrated Olympic gold medallist set to take professional boxing by stormCredit: Getty

He has also matched him with a rugged opponent, in Burgos, in the knowledge that in December the Mexican fought America’s promising Keyshawn Davis and survived all eight rounds. In scheduling Cruz-Burgos over 10 they are not only taking a relative gamble on Cruz’s ability to swiftly adapt as a professional, they are demanding he make a statement by beating Burgos more impressively.

It was Davis – also widely expected to succeed as a professional – Cruz defeated in the final of Tokyo 2020. It is also Davis – whose crowning achievement as an amateur was leaving Japan with a silver medal – who Cruz has already beaten four times from four.

The Cuban had been scheduled to make his professional debut in May 2022, in a promotion overseen by his country’s boxing federation and the Mexico-based Golden Ring Promotions. The entire Cuban amateur boxing team was to appear under an agreement that meant their fighters could start to climb the professional rankings while remaining eligible for international competitions and that the federation would receive a cut of their income.

Twenty-four hours before they were due to travel, Cruz was dropped from the squad when it was reported that his attitude had been poor. Cruz, in turn, insisted the relevant officials had acted through a fear that, like so many of his country’s finest athletes, he would desert them while overseas.

A month later – whether doing so had long been his plan or he was reacting to what had happened remains unclear – he travelled from his home in Matanzas, 65 miles east of Havana, to the seaside city of Moa in preparation to attempt to leave Cuba by boat. After falling asleep in the home of the individual who had helped to organise his trip he woke to the presence of police officers ready to put handcuffs on him, spent four days in custody before being allowed to return to Matanzas, and was permanently removed from the national team as well as banned from his country’s gyms.

For the following four months Cruz’s attempts to train involved shadow-boxing and running. In the absence of the $400 he was being paid monthly for his place on the national team he considered capitalising on his status by selling peanuts on Cuba’s streets.

The Atlanta-based Yolfri Sanchez, Cruz’s co-manager, heard about his circumstances as a consequence of being a baseball agent with a history of working with those involved in another of Cuba’s leading sports. Sanchez sought to help Cruz leave Cuba legally by acquiring the paperwork he required to do so; that November, armed with a passport, Cruz flew to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he stayed until his lawyer secured the visa he needed to live in and train out of the US.

While Cruz’s other co-manager Jesse Rodriguez negotiated with promoters to help guide his career outside of the ring, Sanchez worked to find their fighter the trainer he needed for within it. Cruz’s former teammate Robeisy Ramirez had made admirable progress in Las Vegas under their respected compatriot Ismael Salas, and Jorge Rubio, another leading Cuban trainer based in Miami, represented another proven route.

2

Eddie Hearn called signing Cruz a major coup and cannot wait to see him in actionCredit: AFP

Instead Sanchez, perhaps wary of how many Cuban fighters have struggled for focus and discipline after relocating to the US, was adamant his fighter required somewhere – and someone – significantly different to inspire his evolution. Impressed by Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis – the American welterweight expected to succeed Terence Crawford and Errol Spence at the top of his division – the videos of his training sessions and the fact that he often trains three times a day, he identified Ennis’ father and trainer Derek as most capable of giving Cruz a professional edge.

Having watched the Cuban defeat Davis in the final of the Olympics, Ennis agreed to Cruz visiting him in north-east Philadelphia at his underground gym. Cruz, Ennis and Sanchez – perhaps aware the industrial city is less likely to distract Cruz than Miami’s beaches and Vegas’ bright lights – in turn agreed that the fighter should move there full-time.

Cruz had already left behind his girlfriend in Cuba. His one-year-old son Anthony Taylor is also still there, where he is being raised by his mother. The fighter considers leaving his family behind the most difficult of all of the sacrifices he is making; when Rodriguez more recently travelled to Cuba he asked that he bring an iPhone for his mother, and return with ground peanuts and the Olympic gold medal he had left behind.

Ennis – whose sons Derek and Farah, like ‘Boots’, also fought as professionals – would prefer his new fighter to be fighting for the first time over four rounds. He would also prefer a lower-key opponent for even an Olympic champion, but will only attempt to intervene in the matchmaking process if he feels a mistake is about to be made.

Cruz concluded his decorated amateur career with a reported record of 140-9, and had defeated not only Davis, but the promising Puerto Rican Omar Rosario, and Ramirez, the winner of the WBO featherweight title in his 13th professional fight. By the time he had reached Tokyo he had also already won three successive world championship gold medals and two gold medals at the Pan American Games.

“He will join them [the world’s leading lightweights],” said “Bozy” Ennis. “It’s not, ‘Can he?’.

“He will join them; he’s gonna be right there. He will be champion.”

Joshua vs Whyte on talkSPORT

A history of violence is here

Anthony Joshua vs Dillian Whyte is live on talkSPORT – the home of boxing – on 12 August