Andy Cruz Vs. Hironori Mishiro: IBF Lightweight Eliminator Aired Live On DAZN This Saturday

Promoter Eddie Hearn said he’s disappointed about Keyshawn Davis moving up to 140 because he won’t be fighting lightweight contender Andy Cruz. Hearn had hoped that Keyshawn would face the 2020 Olympic gold medalist Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs) due to the “storyline” of them having fought four times in the amateurs, with Andy breezing to a 4-0 record.

Olympic Rivalry Explained

Keyshawn missed weight last Friday for his title defense of his WBO lightweight title against Edwin De Los Santos. He then announced that he had already planned to move up to light welterweight immediately after the fight. That means there’s no chance of a father-son reunion before the two at lightweight. Most people believe that Keyshawn will never fight Cruz again after losing to him four times in the amateurs and looking outclassed in their Olympic gold medal match final in 2020.

Cruz is fighting Hironori Mishiro in an IBF lightweight title eliminator this Saturday, June 14th, at The Theater at Times Square in New York City. The event will be broadcast on DAZN starting at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. With a victory, Cruz will be mandatory for IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla.

“My biggest disappointment when I heard that Keyshawn was moving up was that he wasn’t going to get to fight Andy Cruz,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype. “The thing with Andy is, no one is going to want to fight him. So, what you have to do is make people fight him.

“Building Cruz’s Popularity

Given Cruz’s late start as a pro due to his long amateur career in Cuba, Hearn has got to put him on a 4 to 6-fight-a-year schedule if he wants to increase his popularity fast enough for the big names at 135 to want to fight him. Even if and when Cruz defeats IBF lightweight champion Raymond Muratalla for his belt, he’s going to be avoided by the top fighters. Cruz has got to follow the early Gennady Golovkin blueprint of fighting frequently to increase his popularity. It worked with GGG, and it can with Cruz as well, as long as Hearn can get the fight dates for him.

Cruz-Mishiro Eliminator

“Now, Andy and Keyshawn have so much potential because of the storyline. The fans want to see that fight, and I thought we had a chance there to make the fight,” said Hearn. “Thankfully, he’s [Cruz] in a final eliminator [against Hironori Mishiro] this weekend, which will see him being mandatory to [Raymond] Muratalla to fight for the IBF [lightweight] world title. So, we’re in a great spot.”

With a victory over Mishiro, Cruz will be mandatory for IBF champion Muratalla, but he’ll still need to wait for the fight to be ordered by the sanctioning body. That could be 9 to 12 months. So, you can expect Muratalla’s promoters at Top Rank to drag it out the full 12 months to allow their fighter to get in two easy title defenses before the Cruz fight.

Muratalla’s chances of beating Cruz are almost zero because he’s too one-dimensional and lacks the skills to compete against the talented Cuban. That’ll be one of Andy’s easier fights as a pro.

Cruz Challenges Davis

“But Andy jokes that the real reason Keyshawn is moving up is because he didn’t want to fight Andy Cruz, because this weekend, he puts himself in a position to fight all the big names at 135. So, Andy Cruz is one of the best fighters in the world. It’s a great fight against Mishiro this Saturday, and we’re looking forward to a big statement from him,” said Hearn.

Keyshawn has already shown for the last two years that he’s not interested in fighting Cruz. He has ignored Andy’s challenges to face him and has repeatedly taken on lesser opposition. His latest pick of inactive #14 WBO Edwin De Los Santos, who hasn’t fought in two years, showed what he’s all about.

Keyshawn doesn’t want to fight Cruz because he’s lost too many times to him in the amateurs, going 0-4. Davis says he’s ‘The Businessman’ now, which translates to him picking and choosing opposition that he’s 100% certain he can beat.