Andy Cruz vs. Hironori Mishiro (14-06-2025) Full Fight
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00:00okay gentlemen you already know the rules let me remind you to keep it clean protect yourself at
00:06all times obey my commands at all times touch gloves good luck to both well Andy Cruz mourned
00:14the retirement the recent retirement of Vasily Lomachenko who like him was a prodigious amateur
00:21but like him he is following in the that same path headed towards a world title shot potentially
00:28in seven fights tonight taking on Hirinori Mishiro who just a couple of fights ago two years ago said
00:35he lost all of his confidence in his boxing but a new team and a new gym has him on the cusp of a
00:42dream opportunity as well round one scheduled for 12. this is either going to be an awesome
00:47performance from Mishiro or an awful one I don't think there's going to be an in-between
00:51Mishiro is a tall fighter nice little snappy jab that he has kind of awkward quirky upper body
01:00really stiff though there's going to be a lot of opening for Cruz to actually hit the chest and the
01:04torso area of such a stiff fighter like Mishiro and he is an aggressive come forward fighter I think the
01:10problem though is that he's not a high volume puncher so he's going to come forward but he's
01:15not going to let his hands go probably as often as he needs to against the fighter with the accuracy of
01:19Andy Cruz right-handed Cruz landing already one up top one there to the body see that's what I mean
01:26by by Mishiro being stiff he got hit with a jab right there he didn't react so his upper body's
01:32really stiff and stiff and robotic it's going to be easy for a guy like Cruz with with this background
01:37with his speed with his straight punches to to really land on Mishiro easily Mishiro started his
01:44career at the Watanabe gym which is most famous for producing Takashi Uchiyama who is one of the best
01:50champions Japan has ever produced he was kind of molded in that model but as I mentioned felt that
01:56his boxing was crumbling in his words lost his confidence after a shocking loss in Korea
02:01now he's training at the Yokohama Hikari boxing gym
02:04that jab's going to be the main weapon for Cruz I can already see it you know because Mishiro's so
02:15robotic you know he doesn't really move his head much that jab's going to be uh the key here to
02:21not a big right hand
02:22you see some reddening on the nose of Mishiro courtesy of that jab as Cruz comes to the inside
02:30on the back of a nice right hand yeah Cruz can't miss with that jab early on I think as this fight
02:35progresses you're going to see him follow up with that straight right hand or lead right hands you
02:39know it could be jabs lead right hand but right now you just want to soften up Mishiro these Japanese
02:43fighters you know they could take a punch they're really tough they come forward so you got to soften
02:47him up right now yeah to that point Sergio Cruz is he can be a very unorthodox puncher look at you
02:52with that 2-1 sort of out of nowhere yeah the 2-1 is a punch that a lot of these uh gold medalists
02:59and successful amateurs throw because it they face a lot of southpaws and that 2-1 is actually the
03:05opposite of a 1-2 when you're standing from the orthodox stance
03:08the final 30 seconds
03:15and further to that point you know one of the core tenets of the Cuban boxing school
03:20is to always finish with that lead hand to keep yourself safe to pivot out you see that
03:24from Cruz mixing things up pitching backwards
03:26gets out of range here good right hand there a moment ago from Mishiro
03:31yeah that's a sneaky right hand that I was talking about it it's a he has a quirky upper
03:37body movement but he has a sneaky right hand he turns into a right hook as well
03:40you can't sleep on a guy like Mishiro
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04:12in the world he is fearless and human
04:19savage au fort the new parfum Dior
04:23more jabs he can't get past the jabs when he come in
04:27pop up up then look give me the angle
04:29give me the angle
04:30good shit
04:31back live here at the theater at Madison Square Garden
04:39Andy Cruz and Hiranori Mishiro here in our co-feature
04:43IBF title eliminator
04:45good opening round for Andy Cruz one good right hand from Mishiro right before the bell
04:50guys we saw Cruz in the corner of course with Bozienes and for my money this is one of the most interesting kind of fusions of boxing ideologies
05:01and Andy Cruz has talked about combining what he learned back home in Cuba now with the the Philly style of fighting that he's learning at
05:09yeah he Andy Cruz very easily could have gone to a trainer in Southern California could have gone to a trainer over in Europe but he wanted to learn this pro style
05:19he wanted to become a power puncher so he goes up to Philadelphia and start training with Bozienes and that's been the emphasis at the majority of his camps getting him out of that amateur style
05:29and getting him sitting down on his punches only two knockouts in his five fights but he has been he has landed some good shots on every one of his opponents very early in his career
05:39I love that jab man I mean just the jab alone is going to win this fight for Andy Cruz I love the fact that he's alternating from upstairs and downstairs when you're dealing with a
05:49with a with a tall lean fighter that doesn't really move his upper body you can stab him in the gut that sets up overhand shots
05:55and you can see that the jab is already busting up the mouth and bloodying the mouth of Mishiro
06:01uppercut on the inside won't help matters in that respect either
06:07according to CompuBox to this point in his career Cruz has outlanded his opponents 897 to 244
06:15basically he's outlanding opponents we're playing with decimal points here but it's basically four to one
06:23yeah his accuracy is really impressive and even though his defensive numbers are excellent as well he's not someone
06:29that is going to run around the ring like to make a comparison he is not
06:33uh a guy like William school he's not going to use the entirety of the ring to try to avoid getting hit
06:39he'll stand in the pocket and avoid shots with his defense his footwork and his reflexes
06:45turning southpaw there his crews giving Mishiro a different look
06:51yeah you're gonna have to be patient with a guy like Mishiro you know
06:55tough fighter never been knocked out you know he's one of these cagey fighters that can take up a good punch keep coming forward so you gotta break these guys down
07:03you know outclass them with jabs just simple jabs like that just busting them up
07:07the body work setting this up for Cruz now he's putting them together on the inside swelling
07:13swelling already developing on the right side of the face of here at nori Mishiro
07:19and you can see the two schools of training you know of Andy Cruz from the outside that jab is that
07:25Cuban style you know that the range keeping the discipline you know popping him with that jab
07:29clean punches on the inside that Philly style you know with the body shots looking for that uppercut digging down
07:35combination punching
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08:17back live here in New York City an excellent start for Andy Cruz in this title eliminator against Hironori Mishiro
08:43as round four is now underway
08:49and there's that quick those quick jabs of Mishiro those are pesky jabs and once he starts throwing that right hand he gets respect from opponents
08:55that's what I want to see right now putting Andy Cruz on the back foot
08:59to correct myself obviously this is round three but here in Nori Mishiro you know we're talking about potential adjustments for him he was talking to the Japanese press earlier this week and he said
09:09listen there are people asking me hey am I worried about getting the win on the scorecards if I'm fighting overseas should I be more aggressive and he said listen I'm not a knockout puncher if I try and stray from what I do it's just going to put me in more danger
09:27Mishiro doesn't like those body shots look stabbing him down stairs like that right in
09:33the bread basket those those get to you man and you can see Mishiro doesn't like him backing up and
09:37actually you know Wilton every time that Andy Cruz trying to go downstairs you can see him covering up those ribs
09:43Mishiro deep breath there after a cascade of right hands from Andy Cruz
09:50I love the punch selects from Andy Cruz you just don't know where he's going to go with these shots he's just as likely to go downstairs with a stabbing body shot and come over the top with that right hand
10:01very disciplined very technically sound fighter there's a sneaky right hook right hand by Mishiro
10:08you know Mishiro said he wasn't going to get over anxious or too aggressive here but I think he's noticing
10:15if he doesn't pick up the volume a little bit this fight is going to get away from him or he's going to start getting hurt
10:20big right hand again there from Cruz and down goes Mishiro and indeed he is hurt
10:29what a shot that landed cleanly right of the jaw first I thought he rolled with it but it was a clean shot you can see the legs buckled
10:36the knees gave out Mishiro's hurt
10:41Andy Cruz just cannot miss right now
10:47Cruz all over Mishiro hunting for the knockout here in the third
10:51and this is when the stiff upper body of Mishiro is going to come and bite him
10:56he needs to duck these shots
10:58he can't just block them
11:00Mishiro just trying to turn away from that right hand
11:03and Cruz is just lining him up for that shot as he does twice more
11:08it's uppercuts it's straight rights
11:11everything coming at Mishiro right now
11:13nice right hand from Mishiro
11:19Cruz just missed with a big right hand that would have ended this
11:23Mishiro just getting there first with a right hand
11:25but you're right Sergio that was a fight ender
11:28but there may be some to come here
11:31Sergio he's just Mishiro just kind of dipping down to his right
11:34and leaving that head exposed
11:38no upper body movement that's what I talked about
11:40he talked about being one body
11:43down goes Mishiro again before the bell
11:53Mishiro up and smiling and he will make it out of the round somehow
11:58I'll give Mishiro a ton of credit
12:01two knockdowns in that round
12:03took as good a beating as you're going to get
12:05but he got up to his feet
12:07it looks like he's going to come back for round four
12:08Busting him off that jab and then with that right hand
12:14double right hand
12:16right on the tip of the chin
12:17you can see the legs giving out
12:19what a shot
12:20that first one he kind of rolled with
12:21the second one did the job
12:22missed the right hook
12:23missed the right hook
12:24chopping him down with that right right hand right across the chief right across the left side of the face of Mishiro
12:35and Sergio he's not slipping he's not rolling he's just ducking down to one side and leaving the side of his head exposed wide open target for Andy Cruz to tee off on
12:48cause he has no upper body movement he's really stiff
13:01round four underway and Hiranori Mishiro will need to make some serious adjustments
13:05or else this one could be over in short order you just cannot take that many straight right hands
13:16I mean Sergio it looked like Cruz was almost surprised at how easy and how available that shot was
13:23well because it's landing so easily you can see that Cruz is turning into a right hook now
13:28if he can start throwing that that right hook to the body it's going to actually open up the overhand shot for Cruz
13:34so touching him downstairs with that right hand and then you can line up up top
13:39take a look at these coffee box numbers we talked about the plus minus historically for Andy Cruz
13:44and that percentage is just going to increase with this fight out landing Mishiro 40 to 5 in terms of power shots
13:54and those numbers are climbing already another right hand over the top there from Andy Cruz
14:01every time Andy Cruz lands a clean right hand it seems to freeze Mishiro where he drops down just exposes that head
14:09and gives Andy Cruz open opportunities
14:10and even getting peppered like he is Mishiro coming forward digging down to the body of Cruz
14:15I mean this is the thing about these Japanese fighters man they got heart to spare they could take a shot
14:20they could keep coming very resilient
14:31it's left hook to the body there from Cruz comes right behind it
14:34the jab up top
14:39big right hand again there from Cruz
14:42yeah that right hand can't miss
14:44nothing can miss right now
14:47the referee taking a close look here
14:52Mishiro incredibly brave but just does not have an answer
14:56for Andy Cruz when he starts putting the shots together
14:58an overhand right from Cruz should end this
15:01but he needs to bend his feet because he's
15:04Mishiro's a sucker for that right hand
15:17go back to the jab even Cruz
15:19there you go popping him like that keeping him at the end
15:21final 30 seconds here of round 4
15:29just waiting for the next explosion here from Andy Cruz
15:34nice upper body movement there by Cruz
15:36nice and relaxed in the pocket everything missing by Mishiro
15:39and there's that 2-1 I was talking about earlier that switches it up on opponents
15:43whenever you're landing the 1-2 so easily switch it up on them with a lead 2 and the power jab
15:52Andy Cruz having a tremendous time in there right now
15:55you see the joy on his face
15:57everything working for Cruz
15:58our main event still to come and it is coming up next George Kambosis Jr. it's not a home game for him Chris
16:14but it certainly feels like home the greatest moments of his career
16:18have been staged at this very event yeah 2-0 at Matt Square Garden including that huge win over Teofimo Lopez back in 2021
16:25a win that really changed the life of George Kambosis Jr. allowed him to earn millions of dollars
16:33fighting in Australia now he finds himself back here
16:36kind of in a similar position where his career
16:39could be at stake his second fight at 140 pounds
16:43and he's facing an undefeated world champion in Richardson Hitches
16:46we're maybe looking at a future world champion in the very near future here in Andy Cruz as the doctors are going to take a look at here at Nori Mishiro
17:04warm round of applause for Mishiro
17:23will be able to continue
17:24and the problem Sergio isn't whether Mishiro can react to the eye test there from the optometrist
17:32it's whether he can react to these right hands from Andy Cruz
17:35Andy Cruz is just way too sharp with those punches and look he just needs to go back to what's been working
17:40popping him with that jab softening him up and then lining up those right hands
17:44whenever you're dealing with a fighter that doesn't move his upper body doesn't have quick instinct to roll with shots with his chin
17:50you're always going to land cleanly so those shots right there those are power jabs Corey those are shots that hurt you going backwards and they're just going to set up
18:00this fight's not going to last much longer
18:05beautiful uppercuts on the inside there from Cruz a moment ago
18:09if Cruz just puts together combinations
18:12just like that with hooks coming around the guard they'll stop this fight
18:16punches him running way too cleanly
18:17well Chris I want to ask you about your scorecard but I suspect we're not going to hear the official scorecards here tonight
18:24Andy Cruz with an absolute paint job right now
18:28here at Mishiro needs saving from himself and that is it
18:34one final Cuban Missile of a right hand from Andy Cruz
18:38and he stamps his ticket for a world title shot
18:41what a talent Andy Cruz is
18:45Cuban skills with Philadelphia power
18:48a world title shot is coming next
18:50I'm so happy they stopped this fight man
18:52because these fighters fighters like Mishiro
18:54you got to save them from themselves
18:56even their corner wasn't stopping this fight
18:58they're that tough
19:00whenever you're dealing with fighters from Japan
19:02fighters that just willing to go out on the shield
19:03you got to save them from themselves
19:05that was a beat down that Andy Cruz put on a very tough opponent Mishiro
19:10courageous effort from Hironori Mishiro here tonight
19:16we talked about the self-doubt that he had coming into this contest
19:21but that didn't mean that he would lack in terms of courage
19:24he went out on his shield here tonight
19:26and just a few short rounds took one heck of a beating from Andy Cruz
19:35and not loading up on punches
19:37look at this everything was landing cleanly
19:39he couldn't miss
19:41Cruz could not miss but then you see Mishiro going swinging for the fences in between the shots
19:45everything landing for Cruz and you could see that he wasn't even
19:49putting too much power he was puck shotting he was moving his shoulders
19:52he was landing some great combinations clean shots
19:56that's what made this man such an outstanding amateur
19:59it's the fact that everything so precise and accurate and doing damage
20:03well the undisputed heavyweight championship is on the line at Wembley Stadium on July 19th as Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois meet for the second time and on this occasion all the belts are on the line in another history making night
20:19right here on DAZN
20:35and we are ready to make this one official as we send it back up to David Diamante
20:40ladies and gentlemen referee Eric Dalí calls a halt to this contest the official time of the stoppage one minute and thirteen seconds of round number five declaring your winner by TKO
20:58Number five, declaring your winner by TKO.
21:01He's still undefeated.
21:03He's now the mandatory challenger and necked in line
21:07for the IBM Lightweight Championship of the World,
21:12Andy El Diamante Cruz.
21:22So El Diamante shines at MSG here tonight.
21:26He's been smiling since his ring walk.
21:29He smiled throughout the fight, Sergio.
21:31He was having a blast in there.
21:32Everything was working for Andy Cruz.
21:34And that's when he's most dangerous.
21:36I mean, when he fights with rhythm, when he fights with...