#boxing #AndyCruz
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00:00Hironori Mishiro. You see Mishiro is slightly taller than Cruz.
00:05Fighting out of the red corner, he wears the black trunks. He scaled 134.6 pounds.
00:11Professional record, 17 victories. One defeat, one draw, with six wins coming my way of knockout.
00:21Fighting out of Matsue, Japan, here is the reigning Japanese lightweight champion, Hironori!
00:30Mishiro!
00:33Mishiro!
00:36And his opponent across the ring, fighting out of the blue corner.
00:41He wears the black with diamond trim. He scaled at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds, bang on.
00:49Professional record, thus far perfect. Five fights, five victories, two of his five wins coming by way of knockout.
00:58Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 2020 Olympic gold medalist, and the reigning and undefeated IBF international lightweight champion,
01:11Presentando El Orgullo de Alacranas Matanzas Cuba, Andy El Diamante Cruz!
01:26Cruz!
01:28Let's go, baby!
01:30Let's go, baby!
01:31Alright.
01:32We need a more, bro.
01:33We need a more.
01:34We need a more.
01:35We need a more.
01:36We're getting in, guys.
01:37Center in!
01:38Okay, gentlemen.
01:39You already know the rules.
01:44Let me remind you to keep it clean, protect yourself at all times, obey my commands at all times.
01:48Touch gloves.
01:49Good luck to both of you.
01:53Well, Andy Cruz mourned the retirement, the recent retirement, of Vasily Lomachenko, who, like him, was a prodigious amateur.
02:01But, like him, he is following in that same path, headed towards a world title shot, potentially in seven fights tonight.
02:10Taking on Hirinori Mishiro, who, just a couple of fights ago, two years ago, said he lost all of his confidence in his boxing.
02:18But a new team and a new gym has him on the cusp of a dream opportunity as well.
02:24Round one, scheduled for 12.
02:26This is either gonna be an awesome performance from Mishiro or an awful one.
02:30I don't think there's gonna be an in-between.
02:34Mishiro is a tall fighter.
02:36Nice little snappy jab that he has.
02:38Kinda awkward, quirky upper body.
02:40Really stiff, though.
02:41There's gonna be a lot of opening for Cruz to actually hit the chest and the torso area of such a stiff fighter,
02:47like Mishiro.
02:48Yeah, he is an aggressive, come-forward fighter.
02:50I think the problem, though, is that he's not a high-volume puncher.
02:54So he's gonna come forward, but he's not gonna let his hands go probably as often as he needs to
02:58against the fighter with the accuracy of Andy Cruz.
03:01Right-handed Cruz landing already.
03:03One up top, one there to the body.
03:06See, that's what I mean by Mishiro being stiff.
03:09He got hit with a jab right there.
03:10He didn't even react.
03:11So his upper body's really stiff and robotic.
03:14It's gonna be easy for a guy like Cruz with this background, with his speed, with his straight punches,
03:20to really land on Mishiro easily.
03:23Mishiro started his career at the Watanabe gym, which is most famous for producing Takashi Uchiyama,
03:29who is one of the best champions Japan has ever produced.
03:32He was kind of molded in that model, but as I mentioned, felt that his boxing was crumbling in his words.
03:38Lost his confidence after a shocking loss in Korea.
03:41And now he's training at the Yokohama Hikari boxing gym.
03:44That jab's gonna be the main weapon for Cruz. I can already see it.
03:52You know, because Mishiro's so robotic, you know, he doesn't really move his head much.
03:58That jab's gonna be the key here to land a big right hand.
04:02You see some reddening on the nose of Mishiro courtesy of that jab as Cruz comes to the inside on the back of a nice right hand.
04:12Yeah, Cruz can't miss with that jab early on.
04:14And I think as this fight progresses, you're gonna see him follow up with that straight right hand.
04:18Or lead right hands, you know, it could be jabs, lead right hands.
04:21But right now you just want to soften up Mishiro.
04:23These Japanese fighters, you know, they could take a punch. They're really tough.
04:26They come forward, so you gotta soften them up right now.
04:28Yeah, to that point, Sergio, Cruz is, he can be, a very unorthodox puncher.
04:32He'll come at you with that 2-1 sort of out of nowhere.
04:35Yeah, the 2-1 is a punch that a lot of these gold medalists and successful amateurs throw
04:41because they face a lot of southpaws, and that 2-1 is actually the opposite of a 1-2
04:46when you're standing Camilla with the duck stance.
04:53The final 30 seconds.
04:56And further to that point, you know, one of the core tenets of the Cuban boxing school
05:00is to always finish with that lead hand, to keep yourself safe, to pivot out.
05:03We see that from Cruz mixing things up, pitching backwards.
05:07Gets out of range here.
05:09Good right hand there a moment ago from Mishiro.
05:12Yeah, that's a sneaky right hand that I was talking about.
05:15He has a quirky upper body movement, but he has a sneaky right hand.
05:19He turns into a right hook as well.
05:21He can't sleep on a guy like Mishiro.
05:23Back live here at the theater at Madison Square Garden.
05:27Andy Cruz and Hironori Mishiro here in our co-feature.
05:31IBF title eliminator.
05:33Good opening round for Andy Cruz.
05:35One good right hand from Mishiro right before the bell.
05:39Guys, we saw Cruz in the corner, of course, with Bozienes.
05:43And for my money, this is one of the most interesting kind of fusions of boxing ideologies.
05:49And Andy Cruz has talked about combining what he learned back home in Cuba now with the Philly style of fighting that he's learning now.
05:57Yeah, Andy Cruz very easily could have gone to a trainer in Southern California, could have gone to a trainer over in Europe.
06:04But he wanted to learn this pro style.
06:07He wanted to become a power puncher.
06:09So he goes up to Philadelphia and start training with Bozienes.
06:12And that's been the emphasis at the majority of his camps, getting him out of that amateur style and getting him sitting down on his punches.
06:19Only two knockouts in his five fights.
06:21But he has been, he has landed some good shots on every one of his opponents very early in his career.
06:28I love that jab, man.
06:29I mean, just the jab alone is going to win this fight for Andy Cruz.
06:33I love the fact that he's alternating from upstairs and downstairs.
06:36When you're dealing with a, with a, with a tall lean fighter that doesn't really move his upper body.
06:40You can stab him in the gut.
06:41That sets up overhand shots.
06:43And you can see that the jab is already busting up the mouth and bloodying the mouth of Mishiro.
06:48A little uppercut on the inside won't help matters in that respect either.
06:55According to CompuBox, to this point in his career, Cruz has outlanded his opponents.
07:00897 to 244.
07:02Basically, he's outlanding opponents.
07:05We're playing with decimal points here, but it's basically four to one.
07:10Yeah, his accuracy is really impressive.
07:13And even though his defensive numbers are excellent as well,
07:16he's not someone that is going to run around the ring.
07:19Like, to make a comparison, he is not a guy like William School.
07:23He's not going to use the entirety of the ring to try to avoid getting hit.
07:27He'll stand in the pocket and avoid shots with his defense, his footwork, and his reflexes.
07:32Turning southpaw there is Cruz giving Mishiro a different look.
07:39Yeah, you're going to have to be patient with a guy like Mishiro, you know.
07:42Tough fighter, never been knocked out.
07:45You know, he's one of these cagey fighters that can take up a good punch, keep coming forward.
07:50So you've got to break these guys down, you know, outclass them with jabs.
07:53Just simple jabs like that, just busting them up.
07:55Busting them up.
07:56The body work setting this up for Cruz.
07:59Now he's putting them together on the inside.
08:01Swelling already developing on the right side of the face of Hirinori Mishiro.
08:07And you can see the two schools of training, you know, of Andy Cruz.
08:11From the outside, that jab is that Cuban style.
08:13You know, the range, keeping the discipline.
08:15You know, popping them with that jab.
08:17Clean punches on the inside.
08:18That Philly style, you know, with the body shots.
08:21Looking for that uppercut.
08:22Digging down.
08:23Combination punching.
08:30Hirinori Mishiro.
08:34As round four is now underway.
08:38And there's that quick, those quick jabs on Mishiro.
08:40Those are pesky jabs.
08:41And once he starts throwing that right hand, he gets respect from opponents.
08:45That's what I want to see right now.
08:46Putting Andy Cruz on the back foot.
08:50To correct myself, obviously, this is round three.
08:52But Hirinori Mishiro, you know, we're talking about potential adjustments for him.
08:55He was talking to the Japanese press earlier this week.
08:58And he said, listen, there are people asking me,
09:01Hey, am I worried about getting the win on the scorecards if I'm fighting overseas?
09:07Should I be more aggressive?
09:08And he said, listen, I'm not a knockout puncher.
09:10If I try and stray from what I do, it's just going to put me in more danger.
09:15Mishiro doesn't like those body shots.
09:19Look, stabbing him down the stairs like that.
09:21Right in the bread basket.
09:22Those get to you, man.
09:23You can see Mishiro doesn't like him backing up.
09:25And actually, you know, Wilton every time that Andy Cruz is trying to go downstairs.
09:29You can see him covering up those ribs.
09:31Mishiro, deep breath there after a cascade of right hands from Andy Cruz.
09:40I love the punch selects from Andy Cruz.
09:42You just don't know where he's going to go with these shots.
09:45He's just as likely to go downstairs with a stabbing body shot and come over the top with that right hand.
09:51Very disciplined, very technically sound fighter.
09:54There's a sneaky right hook, right hand by Mishiro.
09:57You know, Mishiro said he wasn't going to get over-anxious or too aggressive here.
10:02But I think he's noticing if he doesn't pick up the volume a little bit,
10:06this fight is going to get away from him or he's going to start getting hurt.
10:12Big right hand again there from Cruz.
10:14And down goes Mishiro.
10:16And indeed, he is hurt.
10:18What a shot.
10:19That landed cleanly.
10:20Right in the jaw.
10:21At first I thought he rolled with it, but it was a clean shot.
10:23You can see the legs buckled.
10:24The knees gave out.
10:25The knees gave out.
10:26Mishiro's hurt.
10:30Andy Cruz just cannot miss right now.
10:36Cruz all over Mishiro.
10:38Hunting for the knockout here in the third.
10:40And this is when the stiff upper body of Mishiro is going to come and bite him.
10:45He needs to duck these shots.
10:46He can't just block them.
10:49Mishiro just trying to turn away from that right hand.
10:52And Cruz is just lining him up for that shot as he does twice more.
10:57It's uppercuts.
10:58It's straight rights.
11:00Everything coming at Mishiro right now.
11:05Nice right hand from Mishiro.
11:07Cruz just missed with a big right hand that would have ended this.
11:10Mishiro just getting there first with a right hand.
11:13But you're right, Sergio.
11:14That was a fight ender.
11:15But there may be some to come here.
11:19Sergio, he's just...
11:20Mishiro's just kind of dipping down to his right and leaving that head exposed.
11:25No upper body movement.
11:28That's what I talked about.
11:29Viva got it.
11:30Down goes Mishiro again before the bell.
11:41Mishiro up and smiling and he will make it out of the round somehow.
11:46For Andy Cruz to tee off on.
11:48Because he has no upper body movement.
11:49He's really stiff.
11:53Round 4 underway.
11:55And Hira Nori Mishiro will need to make some serious adjustments.
12:00Or else this one could be over in short order.
12:03You just cannot take that many straight right hands.
12:07I mean Sergio, it looked like Cruz was almost surprised at how easy and how available that shot was.
12:13Well, because it's landing so easily and you can see that Cruz is turning into a right hook now.
12:18If you can start throwing that right hook to the body, it's going to actually open up the overhand shot for Cruz.
12:24So touching him downstairs with that right hand and then you can line up up top.
12:29Take a look at these CompuBox numbers.
12:31We talked about the plus minus historically for Andy Cruz.
12:35And that percentage is just going to increase with this fight.
12:38Out landing with Shiro, 40 to 5 in terms of power shots.
12:43And those numbers are climbing already.
12:45Another right hand over the top there from Andy Cruz.
12:50Every time Andy Cruz lands a clean right hand, it seems to freeze Mishiro.
12:55Where he drops down, just exposes that head and gives Andy Cruz open opportunities.
13:00And even getting peppered like he is, Mishiro coming forward, digging down to the body of Cruz.
13:04I mean, this is the thing about these Japanese fighters, man.
13:07They got heart to spare.
13:08They could take a shot.
13:09They could keep coming.
13:10Very resilient.
13:11Nice left hook to the body there from Cruz.
13:23Comes right behind it.
13:24The jab off top.
13:28Big right hand again there from Cruz.
13:31Yeah, that right hand can't miss.
13:32Nothing can miss right now.
13:35The referee taking a close look here.
13:41Mishiro incredibly brave, but just does not have an answer for Andy Cruz when he starts putting the shots together.
13:48An overhand right from Cruz should end this.
13:51But he needs to bend his feet because he's...
13:53Mishiro's a sucker for that right hand.
13:55Stop!
14:05Go back to the jab, even Cruz.
14:09There you go popping him like that, keeping him at the end.
14:12Final 30 seconds here of round 4.
14:20Just waiting for the next explosion here from Andy Cruz.
14:23Nice upper body movement there by Cruz. Nice and relaxed in the pocket. Everything missing by Mishiro.
14:30And there's that 2-1 I was talking about earlier. That switches it up on opponents.
14:33Whenever you're landing the 1-2 so easily, switch it up on them with a lead 2 and the power jab.
14:41Andy Cruz having a tremendous time in there right now.
14:44You see the joy on his face.
14:46And we're maybe looking at a future world champion in the very near future here in Andy Cruz
14:52as the doctors are going to take a look at here in Nori Mishiro.
15:10Warm round of applause for Mishiro.
15:13We'll be able to continue.
15:15And the problem, Sergio, isn't whether Mishiro can react to the eye test there from the optometrist.
15:22It's whether he can react to these right hands from Andy Cruz.
15:25Andy Cruz is just way too sharp with those punches.
15:28And look, he just needs to go back to what's been working.
15:30Popping him with that jab, softening him up, and then lining up those right hands.
15:35Whenever you're dealing with a fighter that doesn't move his upper body,
15:38he doesn't have quick instinct to roll with shots with his chin,
15:42you're always going to land cleanly.
15:43So those shots right there, those are power jabs, Corey.
15:46Those are shots that hurt you going backwards, and they're just going to set up.
15:51This fight's not going to last much longer.
15:55Beautiful uppercuts on the inside there from Cruz a moment ago.
15:58If Cruz just puts together combinations, just like that,
16:03with hooks coming around the guard, they'll stop this fight.
16:06Punches of Mishiro way too cleanly.
16:08Well, Chris, I want to ask you about your scorecard,
16:10but I suspect we're not going to hear the official scorecards here tonight.
16:14Andy Cruz with an absolute paint job right now.
16:19Here, Mishiro needs saving from himself, and that is it.
16:24One final Cuban Missile of a right hand from Andy Cruz,
16:29and he stamps his ticket for a world title shot.
16:32What a talent Andy Cruz is.
16:35Ladies and gentlemen, referee Eric Daly calls a halt in his contest.
16:40The official time of the stoppage.
16:43One minute and 13 seconds of round number five.
16:47Declaring your winner by TKO.
16:50He's still undefeated.
16:51He's now the mandatory challenger and necked in line
16:55for the IBF Lightweight Championship of the World,
17:00Andy El Diamante Cruz.